Ice and sunshine

O sweet spontaneous

earth how often have

the

doting

          fingers of

purient philosophers pinched

and

poked

thee,

has the naughty thumb

of science prodded

thy

      beauty.

how

often have religions taken

thee upon their scraggy knees

squeezing and

buffeting thee that thou mightest conceive

gods

        (but

true

to the incomparable

couch of death thy

rhythmic

lover

          thou answerest

them only with

                        spring)

e.e. cummings

The beautiful sharp contrast of ice and sunshine – an early-morning shot of an icy winter’s morning in my garden.

This Aloe ferox just keeps on delivering delight after delight every winter, providing much-needed sustenance of her sweet nectar to Sunbirds and insects and also making splashes of bright colour in an otherwise drab landscape.

This hardy succulent is indigenous to South Africa.

.