When winter fades and slips away,
And longer grows each gentle day,
A softer breeze begins to play—
That’s springtime in Ohio.
Along the shore of Lake Erie blue,
The ice melts down, the sky turns new,
The water warms in brighter hue,
And gulls cry out on cue.
The Cuyahoga River bends and flows,
Past city steel and melting snows,
It carries off the winter woes
And toward the sunlight goes.
Shovels rest beside the wall,
No more salt in icy squall.
Garden gloves and seeds now call—
It’s time to plan it all.
Crocus, daffodil, and green
Push through earth once cold and lean.
Yards awake from winter’s scene
With colors fresh and clean.
We talk of boats and summer air,
Of fishing lines and county fair,
Of sunsets bright beyond compare
And evenings free of care.
Yes, spring may chill from time to time,
With muddy boots and skies half-fine,
But hope returns in every sign—
In birdsong, bloom, and vine.
For here we know, though cold was strong,
It never lasts the whole year long.
Soon warm days will lead the song—
In sweet Ohio, where we belong.
