Four seasons of April

Twenty four hours 
Four-seasoned elements 
Wrestle with
Banks of heavy cloud
Traction  a different rhythm 
Of snow flurries that sweep across
Bent rows of daffodils;
A north wind pummels 
The naked branches of the ash;
Winter defies with its iron claw 
And blossom falls from plum and thorn;
The buzzard swoops low over the fields in a whitish haze
And disappears from view;
And the clouds- their anvil edge of farrier’s steel- glinting
Through spring warmth 
A fleeting sun
And wind abating 
Before song birds retreat to the hedge
And hail is released with orchestral precision,
Beating a syncopated rhythm
That dances on the stars of the celandines.