Spring villanelle

In Competition No. 3092 you were invited to submit a spring villanelle. The villanelle lends itself to themes of loss and time passing, but the somewhat gloomy mood of the entry was offset by how well you rose to the form’s technical challenges. Congratulations all round, but especially to unlucky losers Noah Heyl, R.M. Goddard, Philip Roe, and Jasper and Julia Griffin. The winners earn £30 each.
 

A green haze hints that spring might soon appear,
The trees come into leaf, unhurried, slow,
Like Brexit, always coming, never here.
 
The sky grows blue, the grey begins to clear
And as the flowers’ colours start to show,
A green haze hints that spring might soon appear.
 
Too long we’ve suffered February’s drear
With March and April still in winter’s tow
Like Brexit, always coming, never here.
 
And where is May with all her promised cheer?
Her blossoms still stay tightly closed, although
A green haze hints that spring might soon appear.
 
It hovers close, a presence almost near,
A seed in frozen soil that’s loath to grow
Like Brexit, always coming, never here.