We walked along the Aqueduct, where the snow and ice were still sloppy and slippery, and saw the first snowdrops by the side of the trail. Snowdrops (Galanthus) come up so valiantly through the duff on their slender stems and you feel if they can do that, anyone can do anything. If they pulled through the winter, anyone can pull through their own winter.
But listen to Basho’s haiku:
All this foolishness
About moons and blossoms
Pricked by the cold’s needle.
It takes a lot of stamina to lift up your head, especially with a crumb of crumpled leaf like a hat upon it. It’s almost spring. Will we forget all about the life we’ve been living and go back to the way we were? Snowdrops come up through a storm. Can we?
Jean Zimmerman 
Jean, In the Haiku below, the middle line, in order to have the needed seven syllables, needs to include the word ‘pricked.’ That leaves the proper five for the last line.
we can…should we?
Excellent article. Push up, push forward.
Thank you.
Can we??