Where is Spring?

I’m checking my calendar

I do it every morning

Monitoring the march of Spring

Waiting for it to emerge

Good and proper

Not the odd glorious sunny day

Warm enough for shorts and tee shirt

Then back to winter the next day

Fleecy jacket at the ready

To retreat into when I set out

The wet of La Nina

Is encroaching on Spring this year

Just as it drenched winter

The dams and water catchments are full

Some to overflowing

In eastern regions of this vast continent

Serious flooding is widespread

Even here rain is a regular feature

Of every seven-day forecast

Sometimes with warnings of heavy rain

And hail

My rainwater tank is full

To the brim

Winter still hangs around, not shaken off

Close to the middle of Spring

Where we are now

Daylight saving which promised bright evening sunshine

Has so far delivered only gloom

Filtered daylight, not the same thing

Not uplifting

I have made it a point

Never to complain when it rains

On this, the driest continent on earth

We need water

As much as we need sunshine

But I’m only human

I’m an example of this planet’s life

That would never have arisen if not for the sun

My connection to the sun

Is hardwired in both my body and soul

Sunshine lifts my spirits

I endured its deprivation

During the cold dark days that dominated winter

In its last weeks

I counted the days

Like I’ve done every year

Until my favourite day of the year

The one that relegates winter to the past

And signals the start of Spring

And as with every year

I await the indulgence of the weather gods

To pull their collective finger out

And bring it on

Any day now