smothered in this deep winter bleakness
as the sun walks away from us
an ancient journey to be traveled once again

but I will hold fast in my memory the days
when it seemed close enough to pull from the sky
and whisper to

I remember each moment it warmed us
and the wondrous twilight when we squinted
as it danced broad along the water's edge

these memories of the sun,
they will offer me solace through the gathering darkness
as we patiently await the lushness of the equinox
with a certain feigned indifference that fools no one.

~ Eric Vance Walton ~