Because they could taste spring’s mild air even
when the world was frozen, their sap rose.
Because they spent the long winter dreaming
that robins built nests in their limbs, dreaming
that the world was green and that sunlight
danced warm and golden all around them,
buds formed at the tips of their branches.
Because their dreams were so vivid
that they heard the songs of summer winds
even as the snow piled around them,
their roots grew deeper, their trunks added rings.
Because they believed in springtime,
their leaves sprang forth.