The Silence of Winter

The silence of winter
creeps close to the kitchen windowsills
and pushes the dreamer
deeper into the earth,
the companion of blossoms
and green life
almost forgotten
in the pure and cold pleasure
of this dormant time.

Listen carefully
as you place your ear
to the chest of the living
and whisper loving vows of gratitude
for this much kindness
shared without meaning
or expectation--
without any exchange at all.

We are nearly arrived after flying
for the longest journey
like swans transformed
in these darkest days.

We arrive at the door of our souls
and they smile and embrace us
as they have done
for all time,
reuniting like light entering
the center of a single snowflake
and becoming delicate bodies--
the gentle, healing beauty
on the shoulder of a weary child
or in the hair of a woman
who is learning
she doesn't need
to sleep after all.

It is here
that a steady exhalation
makes death a friend
we need remember with joy
and as a reminder
of what we must
all give away
in order
to be absolutely sure
we are free.