Reprieve

The snow is melting away today as the temp rises a bit higher. There are a few leftover piles of it, little white patches on the landscape, on roofs, in shaded areas. Tomorrow, all of it will be consumed by rain.

I’m sharing one of my poems today and one many people in my life have loved. It is simple. I wrote it after looking out into the woods where I lived and seeing snow fall. My woods are shown in the photo. They were quite scraggly in places. The snow seemed to transform it into something truly beautiful as did the leaves and undergrowth in Spring and Summer. A word keeps resounding in my head today…reprieve.

WINTER WOODS

O’withered stand of trees 

and bark age of old 

Winter beats upon you 

and breathes its dark and cold 

I hear the voice of leaves 

once born of new 

crumpled and colorless, 

limp and trodden through 

In misty morning fog 

scampers do I hear 

Awake, something’s coming 

trembles and beckons fear 

Afternoon’s rays 

peeking kindly in 

to warm your branches low 

with fireside once and then 

Night sifts slowly 

its way in and numbs the glow 

Stars fade, and sky falls 

an ever-stirring snow 

©Vivienne St. Claire