Winter Wren

Winter Wren

This jumble of protein and water

Embodies October exhaustion—

Spawned out salmon,

Heap of moldering leaves—

Following months heavy with fear

Of losing you.

No winter reserves,

January brings more darkness

Than remembered,

Another test for tenuous bonds

Linking mud, water, air,

Cells, organs,

Families, communities.

A single wire too often bent,

Breaks.

These four woven strands

Are tempered by flames

From countless candles.

On the forest trail,

The flick of a tiny wing.

A messenger hides

In a tangle of branches

Smashed by recent wind.

Stillness.

Then long melodious trill.

Winter wren.

If you read this,

When you read this,

I will sleep.