Winter's Hope
Looking out across winter fields
I stand in their soft holdings of water
Ivy no longer wanders over the river wall
A quiver overtakes the landscape
Strangely tender in this cold hard plenitude
White petals fall awhile — an elaborate coverlet
Sunlight gleams from its glassless frame
An eagle flings its shadow across the sky
Gathering height where the beat widens
You took it all, even the empty dream
I sought comfort in the graves we made
And just when I thought I’d given you up
Hope’s sweet oil seeps into my flesh
A few drops on my brow, my wrist
I cup them like a warm breath; for days —
Acceptance as something chosen
Mother and daughter become one
White candle burning next to white candle
Your mind and mine go back through the years
Searching that lost child, and finding her here
The circle opens — closing where our joined hands meet
© Selena Howard December3,2011
