Trout Lily Dream
Deep winter dreams–bright lilies of the field,
rippling forest edge – Erythronium
americanum. Nestled in its corm,
asleep in frost-shot ground, its truth concealed
until spring-spotted carpets are revealed
beneath bare maples, dappled elfin form.
Some gardeners view the trout lily with scorn,
complaining its tenacity won’t yield
to shovels or weed-killing chemicals.
It forms communities where they want lawn
and they’ll do anything to get it gone.
They’ll scorch the earth like evangelicals,
not recognizing gold lies at their feet,
that harmony is victory, not defeat.
Cindy Ellen Hill has authored four poetry collections-- Wild Earth (Antrim Press 2021), Elegy for the Trees (Kelsay Books 2022), Mosaic: Poems from Travels in Italy (Wild Dog Press 2024), and Love in a Time of Climate Change (Finishing Line Press 2025). Read more.