Throughout the shortened days and frigid nights of winter, my soul treads along un-walked trails. Every step, every sound, magnified in the snow and so, I step lighter, making my way through the dark, becoming one with the ice.

My heart stills as the days grow colder. It hides away behind a wall of crystal stones, its own fire, its only warmth.

Separated

Protected

Sound and life muted by heavy snow.

It seems winter has come and made its home with me.

Each time I try to scrape a hole in the sleeted window, it only reveals a deeper freeze, diamond-hard, but beautiful. Protective. And so I nod my head in agreement and climb higher.

The storm rages around me, but I feel it less and less. I lie down to rest, closing my eyes, frost coating my lashes.

When, in the midst of the howling wind, I hear a creature – fair fowl high in a leafless tree. I shake my head and slowly reach for another crystal stone to block the sound.

But that fair fowl cries so high and so clear that a crack appears in the wall of my glacial abode.

And through the fissure formed there, a glimmer of light. Sun. It begins to send fingers of heat through the compromised wall, furthering its demise.

In my foggy state, I back away, whimpering, my hands clasped over my ears. My shelter is destined for ruin. The cry of the bird becomes stronger in my ear.

Its song sounds like something ancient and familiar. Against my will, I listen. It sounds like hope.

And spring.