The Legend of Hero

I was asked if I knew
the snowdrop’s symbolism
but my brain could not
envisage a syllogism.

I tried but my efforts
amounted to zero
then I remembered
the legend of Hero.

In Spring the Sun takes,
as a sign of rebirth,
the form of a young girl
who warms up the earth.

She is taken hostage
by the winter season
which refuses the thaw
without a good reason.

Hero rescues the Sun
that the Winter gripped
but in the white snow
his blood has dripped

when he was wounded
attempting to save
the distressed damsel
and it was a close shave.

The patch on which
fell the blood’s drops
became a fertile ground
for the growth of snowdrops.


© Luigi Pagano