Homage to RF: A Prayer in Spring

With springtime comes recall of autumn's prayer:
May harvest nurture while the fields are dead.
May grace deflect the foolish things I've said.
May winter pass with foodstuffs still to spare.
Protect my loved ones; keep them in your care.
Now bring the gift of spring in flaming red,
a city under siege this flower bed,
flaring poppies blaze and paint the air.
Their fiery flush compels my prayer in spring:
Make all that's red my sign of sacred trust
that spirit, too, requires a careful plan—
make time to let the angry poet sing,
to praise the flower before it turns to dust,
and bless the air with gentlest breath of man.