Winter is cruel

a mean menace

that turns beautiful green

into dismal black

making ugly corpses

out of living things

 

trees lose their leaves

become drab skeletons

flowers wilt and die

stalks become brittle and

all that is left is

the bleakness of winter

 

but Spring

brings new life

inching out from hardened ground

sprouts of life return

to seek the warmth of sun and light

miracles emerge from limb or soil

unfold before our very eyes

 

the pulse of life returns

resurrected from the death of winter

by warming of the soil

the gentleness of Spring rain

we bear witness to new birth

to these children of the earth

 

human souls too

are warmed and invigorated

by the annual observance

we watch in awe as life renews

so grand in scale

so great in glory

 

reminding us all things survive

that there is always hope.