As The Seasons Change...

Back when I was a boy, and the winters were long

And the snowfall was heavy, and bitter winds strong

When the ache of the cold would destroy all your bones

And the ice would envelop, and give cracking moans

When it broke from its base, when icicles could kill,

When a moment too long out would make your heart still,

When for warmth, you're so desperate you'd piss on your hands

Ah, yes. Those were the winters that made me a man.

I was out in the forest, one dangerous day,

With a dog and a compass to show me the way.

The wind had been silent, a better word is dead,

And it put such a worrying thought in my head.

I said to myself, 'why is the wind on such pause?

Mother nature's not breathing, I can't feel her pulse.

Her breath has been stifled, her children are cut down.'

And the thought, to this day, still leaves me with a frown.

So we stopped on our path, still carved out in the snow,

And we looked two directions, to see where to go.

Back from the way we came, where the footprints gave path

We'd just trace them to leave, to avoid Mother's Wrath.

Or, I looked at the wolfhound, fur warm as my coat,

And realized that he was as willing to trek,

We could push for the heart of the forest we know

Check the luck of the draw, see our fate in the deck

So traversing the snow was the effort we made

As the clouds moved back in, us basking in their shade

Like the burn of a candle, I started out strong

But for what was in store, no idea I'll last long

The ice started to pelt the fur parka's warm top

The dog yelped at the surprise, and wished it to stop

But the snow gave out guidance, as pockets burst forth

I saw most of it still, but that which moved went North

The snow hung in the air, suspended in the sky

Didn't drift, didn't drop, merely hovered in place

There were bits that continued, I've no reason why,

Towards the center, unless they would drift on my face

So we hastened our pace, hustled out through the mounds

Kept our eyes out for danger, ears for warning sounds

But the only things ringing that we could detect

Was the sorrowful wind that the snow would neglect

I was shocked, for the wind had sparked sudden and hard

But the snow just continued to wander its ways

It neglected the wind, although it would send shards

Of the ice on the trees, directly to my face

So I covered my eyes as we marched on, with speed

Quick to try to discover what gave her the need

To protect her domain from such simple a traipse

As a man and a dog, walking from place to place

But when we reached a clearing, it died down again

A small eye in the storm that was trying to end

Both myself and the dog, the snow up to his chin

Couldn't tell where his legs stop, or body begins,

Yet he marched just like me, in the thick of the mounds

And stuck nose in the air, and was sniffing around

He would wander the clearing, speed unlike before

He was moving like he had to settle a score

I suppose that we both did, the dog well as I

We wouldn't lay down taking the beating supplied

So I wandered as well, not quite sure how to look

Til a surprise met me at the end of my foot

Wading deep in the snow, something caught my intrigue

Wiping away some snow, I had seen two small feet

The dog dove towards the small body buried in sleet

And would begin to dig, until task was complete

Just a minute went by until enough was shown

I could pick the girl up, put her on my shoulder

All I remember then is such speed I had flown

Racing to get her home as the night grew colder

And stoking the fire, til the cabin could burn

And the air itself singed with each breath I would take

To revive this poor child, it'd have to be earned

And the process could not have a single mistake

I was in the adjacent room, grabbing supplies

To check for any injuries I could surmise

From a glance. If the child survived the affair

There's a doc in the village. I will take her there.

Just a few sticks and wrapping for slings, bandage too

Bit of liquor for injuries, salve for burns too

When I walked in, the girl stared at me and the tools

She looked at me, said "Thank you, but, uh... Who are you?"

Now that I am a man, and the winters are short

There's more room for the playtime, for kids to make sport

But the threats of the winter remain all the same

Especially up here, in the forest's domain

Why that girl was guarded by nature, I don't know

I wonder deep in thought if the world wished her dead

But I'm glad that I found her out deep in the snow

Even if, to this day, ice still fills me with dread.