Don’t you just love graceful willow branches with fluffy catkins?
The catkins of the Salix genus appear long before the leaves, and are one of the early signs of spring. ??
Meet the Willow-Catkin fairy partner:
And here’s the Willow-Catkin’s rhyme:
The people call me Palm, they do;
They call me Pussy-willow too.
And when I’m full in bloom, the bees
Come humming round my yellow trees.
The people trample round about
And spoil the little trees, and shout;
My shiny twigs are thin and brown:
The people pull and break them down.
To keep a Holy Feast, they say,
They take my pretty boughs away.
I should be glad — I should not mind —
If only people weren’t unkind.
Oh, you may pick a piece, you may
(So dear and silky, soft and grey);
But if you’re rough and greedy, why
You’ll make the little fairies cry.
Buy the book containing this fairy and the other fairies of spring:
