A golden frenzy greets the spring
just before the warmth seeps in
as sunbursts leap the garden wall
and frolic near the waterfall.
The First Flower, vibrant, rugged,
fills each crevice with a nugget,
while huddled in its winter clothes,
green with envy, sulks the rose,
wishing so that it had been
first flower on the springtime scene.
Enraged, the jealous bud decreed
"This fuzzy's nothing but a weed!
Let's deny the springtime honor
to this gaudy gold commoner."
"No, it is for me to say
which flower welcomes spring today,
and I, the sun, have chosen one
in my own bright reflection."
So let us pile the praises high
on this, the golden dandelion,
joyous pinwheel, sign of birth,
bringing springtime to the earth.

© by Kathleen Bunyan Carlson. 
Used with the author's permission.