Within Winter

(written February 2025)

A barren landscape, nature’s repose, relentless, it
keeps us captive with talons that pinch.
We cannot rescind.
We long to spring forward as bitter
winds halt our tracks.
Cold muscles contract in an attempt to
maintain heat until the sinew becomes frozen and cracks
Then, out of nowhere, a shoot appears
through the earth, clawing its way into the light.
As nature gives birth, we smile.
Even within the starkness of winter, there is hope.
That thought we must always hold.

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