Stone Soup

Where young artists paint the world with words

The international magazine of stories, poems, and art by young writers and artists. Published continuously since 1973.

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Daffodil

A pea-green shoot pokes out of the ground.
Through the last sprinkle of snow,
It stretches.
Straightens.
Reaching towards the sky, it whispers,
“Spring. Spring. Spring.”
It battles the icy wind
And the winter-beaten mud.
Slowly
A bud grows,
Rounder, bigger, smoother.
One day…
Yellow.
Finally.
Five fairy petals caress the warming air,
Surrounding a golden crown.
A lone beam of sunshine,
Among browns and grays.
Head high,
It is the herald of spring,
Announcing the arrival of sunshine,
The birds, and
Other daffodils.

Daffodil Madeleine Yi
Madeleine Yi, 12
Derwood, Maryland