It was in cold December that I wept
In longing for the sun’s distant return
Yet now it seems that through the grey I slept;
I wish in winter I could more than yearn

I walk at times amidst the tow’ring trees
And listen for the wisdom they would share
Their whispers ride the current of the breeze
And fill with ageless truth the verdant air

I rose amidst the rays of red sunrise
And peered on the horizon to the east
There, for a moment, truth wore no disguise
And so revealed itself to me, the least

On fire-lit walls the shadows dance and bend
Alive for moments that the flames create
And down the walls the shadows slowly wend
As roaring flames, to embers turned, abate

After a long-expected time of rest
I find my troubles still lying in wait
And thus I think it’s time that they confessed
Their hungers, relaxation will not sate

I lost a quiet thing that once I held
A peace in purpose once worn ’round my neck
Now restless do I wander seeking it
To fill the void that’s opened in me __

As Old Man Winter blows his hoary breath
Upon all that is green and bright, I see
How he must relish in the warmth’s quick death
How petty and cantankerous is he