When spring comes in: A poem by Dr. Rinzin Rinzin

When spring comes in the Himalayan valleys

Nature at the promises of life urgently rallies

As if to celebrate the cruel winter’s departure

For having icily ruled earth with its torture

As the sun warms the dead cold earth

Snows melt, much to the mountains’ mirth

Feeding the rivers in the valleys below

That have shrunk to their own beds low 

Naked deciduous trees get studded with buds

As their long dormancy with life floods

Birds sing dozens of courtship songs melodious

At the hope of food and shelter copious 

Yaks greedily graze on soft green grasses again

For their lost body weights they must quickly regain

From a distance a flock of Blue Sheep watches

Enviously as the valley’s pasture turns into patches

Children spend long hours in the sun

With their playmates having fun

Elders begin to break their backs in the fields

Singing hopeful songs of their crops’ good yields