Winter Poem

It’s December.

Outside, the sky is cloaked

in muted shades of gray.

Chill winds blow in

from the north

Chill winds of life

blow down through time

and touch my soul.

In my mind’s eye

I see a photograph

of three young girls

amidst new fallen snow

with arms and eyes upraised

in wonderfully unfettered joy.

Their timeless sky is gray.

Their wind is chilled .

And yet

their sunlit souls

are not yet burdened

by life’s truths

we learn o’er time.

Their eyes still seeing

the world about

untainted by

the sadness of experience.

Three innocent young girls

amidst the gloom and chill

of winter’s pall

find only wonder and delight

in falling snow on a winter’s day.

Eventually we all grow up

In time, we lose first wonder

then delight.

We can’t go back

to what we were.

But maybe I can

once more see the world

through their young eyes,

if only for

a fleeting moment

now and then,

so that my poor battered soul

can find a momentary respite

in the wondrous visions

of three young girls

amidst new fallen snow.

Howard Fireman, Written in 2002 or 2003