W hat are we when the sun dims
        And the moon is queen of the sky ?

When the leaves brown
                         And the birds vanish

When the wind chills the body
                         And the bears sleep forever
                                                  And everything seems dead

Then a glint of hope
                         A small delicate thing
The only sight of beauty in this frozen wasteland

                         A snowflake

                                                  Then two

                                                                           Then five

Then five hundred freefalling like feathers
                         daintily landing upon the frozen ground

                         Long times pass

                         and then the snow melts
And what should I see out of my frostbitten window but

                                                  A flower

                         Spring at last

— Todd Hollow —

*[ WSB ]_.