Hath Winter Then a Heart of Tenderness? a Sonnet

 

Hath winter then a heart of tenderness

For landscapes clad in humble brown and gray?

Where farewell and arrival coalesce

…Winter spills forth as autumn slips away

She touches with redemption-tinted garb

The stricken aftermath of summer cheer

Her sugar-coated kisses fill the yard

Where yesterday it suffered autumn’s tear

And where the wanton field lies naked, bare

She covers grass and furrow with the gleam

Of diamonds fit to garnish angel’s hair

Tucking to earth the farmer’s latent dream

Granting a gentle respite to his care

Filling the sky with snowflake-choir requiem

***

Tis right to entertain both joy and grief

This season; the portent of hope or fear

Where we embark anew, beyond the sheaf

Of garnered days that shape the bygone year

Like gathered harvest, this year’s deeds are wrought

Preserved beyond the elements of time

Its echoes tuning pastures of our thought

Where longing and fulfillment toll their chime

And now a gracious sheath of purity

Embellishes the dull and stricken plain

A mother with compassion’s sympathy

Blankets the grim reminders of our pain

Drawing our eyes to present mystery

History sleeps; to linger there is vain

***

Hath winter then a heart of tenderness?

White snow covers a year of scarlet tears

The naked bough reaches for her caress

The heart reaches beyond past hurt and fears

To offerings of hope and happiness

Unblemished; yet again a gift of grace

Ignores our monuments of selfishness

Where we have scarred her perfect virgin face

With sordid sins of foolish fantasies

Time’s vault will not exhume our leaps of woe

But gently leads us from these agonies

Across a threshold unmarred as fresh snow

Granting to us but this; our memories

To keep the good then let the remnant go  

Janet Martin~ 

Winter wanders in
wearing a white bridal gown
earth carries her veil


It seems fitting that the first day of winter brings with it, snow.