Winter's Banishment

Winter crouches over our now barren land
The great trees are weighed with snow
The world is frozen in time
Life's ebb and flow has grown feeble

The clouds swirl over the horizion
As if trying to make up their mind
Whether they should stay
Or leave this empty place
Where nothing lives anymore

The stars are far away specks
The moon is hidden in the night's depths
Snowflakes float and touch the ice
But the seeming peace is deceptive

At first the frozen tensions are not apparent
At first it is impossible to know that our hearts
Are trying to come back to life
Winter has frozen everything

But then you see how the shining ice creaks and cracks
Crying to be released
And under the glittering snow the trees groan 
And bend until they almost snap
Begging to be unburdoned
The wind sings high notes around the mountains
But it is sobbing

Let the winter be over
Bring the dawn of freedom
From the ice that holds us captive
Melt the winter away

The night lingers long
But morning comes
Like a ghost at first, creeping near in paleness
Then the windsong changes to joyful chimes
And then the sunlight bursts forth, parting the clouds
The glorious sun rides the wind
Pink and gold glow into the entire land

The snow begins to melt
Sliding from the trees
They stand upright, reaching for the sunlight
The ice slowly turns liquid 
Until the water ripples clear and blue

And the wind loses its bite
Warm and soft, it ruffles the grass and waves the leaves
The mountains seem to smile
Birds sing in chorus from the forest

Life that was once frozen under winter's iron hand
Has been released
Winter has been banished forever
And every single heart now beats strong again