the winter winds are softer

the winter winds are softer now
still, I often think of you
I try to recall our many days
but now they seem so few

the wisteria is peeking out
from tangles of dead wood
the mossy stones, the empty room
fill me with the deepest gloom
I wish to see you outside your tomb
when life was warm and good

the birds that fled are here again
dressed in their finest smocks
you have stopped, yet the year begins
with the hounding of the clock

my friends all crowd around and gaze
and promise me such better days
they beg to know if I'm still here
they give to me their tender fear
my misty eyes, they seek to clear
they beckon with such haste

in my dreams you scream for me
in life you would tell me to stay
now it seems almost worth cherishing
the warmth in a waking day

if I could, I'd follow you
and sink deep within the snow
no birdsong would pierce the grey
no light would fall upon my face
to no love would again my heart give chase
and all would be peacefully cold

yet flowers dot the vibrant grass
all empowered by the rain
and I know in my heart if I left it all now
I would truly never see you again