Bird Of Winter

A bird of Winter never leaves,    
  but remains behind      
    among the trees.      
     
All the others far have flown      
  to winter Edens in      
    temperate zones.      
     
I cannot see, but only hear,      
  my eyes stung with      
    crispest air      
     
and whitest sky against grey limbs      
  twisted above      
    alone and slim.      
     
The joyful bird echoes melodic notes  
  it's whitest wings      
    spread out as it floats      
     
and lifts from one perch to the next      
  crying a windy song      
    in behest      
     
of all the love once given there      
  in yellow, blue and      
    green so fair.      
     
Far away yet sounding near,      
  the wind's refrain is      
    eternally there.      
     
Bird of Winter, never leave;
  whip your shrillness,
    never grieve,  
     
I embrace your purest heart,      
  your coldest chill      
    and deepest of parts.      
     
You are the leaves; your feathers their downy souls,      
  and into the long winter,      
    under your loving wings they fold.      
     
As Winter draws on to an earth's icy freeze,      
  the bird of Winter      
    still sings for me.      
     
          .....