Candles in the Wind
(Written on November 12, 2014, in the midst of a polar vortex, a great wave of arctic cold and snow.)
A shroud of frost
has settled
over the land
hoary mask
of a wintry ancient
whose features unfold
faces of those loved
and lost.
They float before us
specters in a sky
blanched by falling snow.
Their entreaties
beg us to restore
past summers of love
and joy.
In our deep freeze
of grief
we can only wait
for the shroud to lift.
We will keep a vigil
in candles lit
in the heart’s chapel.
We will soon celebrate
a nativity
eternal return
of time and space
person and place
a continuous rebirth.
The candles
whose aureoles hold
all the souls
of those loved and lost
will not be extinguished
by the fateful winds
of winter.
All our candles
will be re-ignited
all will be anointed
in a fragrant rush
