On this grey morning
All seems bleak
All seems dead

Bare branches encased in ice
A slurry of snow coating the earth
Treacherous and slick
Hiding the hard ground

Life seems to have turned on itself

Some retreat and are able to stay inside
Cozy and warm though resentful
Others who have nowhere to go
Are battered
Burying hope
As the Earth is now buried
Such conditions we are all in

Winter is here in its fullness

But look deep
It has more to share

Its song crunches beneath feet
Crackles on branches in the shifting wind
Glistens in translucent magic
Highlighting the shapes and forms of tree limbs, bushes, evergreens
The wonder of icicles drip from everything
Cable wires, gutters and the bottoms of cars
Cold bites the face and tingles fingers and toes
Telling us

I’m here
Don’t run
Feel this too

There’s nowhere else to be

Embrace me too in this season of your life
Take care and stay warm of course
You’ll die otherwise
But don’t hate me
For I am this life too

It’s easy to rail against me
To be worried and afraid
When all seems harsh and unfair

Remember the seeming ease of other seasons
When life appeared abundant
Welcoming

Even then you needed to find your way
You still needed to be free

That hasn’t changed

Just the season
The weather
The conditions that await you
As you live day by day

Find ways to dance and smile
To love and sing
To wonder and connect
To help and get help
To tell your story and to listen to others
To build what is needed
Take down or let rot what is not

Look deep today and you’ll find the warmth you seek

Even in this season of the grey