Ronald W. Pies’ “Our Lady of the Cyclamen”

Our Lady of the Cyclamen

by Ronald W. Pies

A foot 

of deep-caked snow 

still on the driveway,

and February’s blank stare 

through our darkening window. 

Suddenly, a lone ladybug

flaunts her colors

on the pane.

Mortality  

being a sure thing, 

it seems pointless 

to do what we do:

lure our lady

with a drop of honey

and place her 

in a blossom

on our winter-blooming

cyclamen.

Salvation 

isn’t hers to keep, 

nor ours;

but we have made 

our rejoinder

to February.

Writing Prompt: Try writing a poem in which some aspect of Nature (broadly conceived) helps you regain a glimmer of joy or hope.


A photo of Ronald W. Pies, a middle-aged white man with black hair and a greying beard. He is looking into the camera and smiling.

Ronald W. Pies, MD, is a physician, novelist and poet affiliated with Tufts University School of Medicine. He is the author of the poetry collection Creeping Thyme (Brandylane, 2004); a chapbook of poems, The Doctor’s Poems (Cyberwit.net, 2020); and three novels published as The Levtov Trilogy. Dr. Pies lives with his wife, Nancy, in Lexington, MA.