For Those Who Must See to Remember

november and the end

of daylight's long fall

is still weeks away

life crouches in roots in seeds

in shallow burrows

in tunnels through rich soil

small beings curl asleep

to hold their warmth

in cramped caves of weathered stone

what must breathe claws

its way deep into the dark

to escape the descending frost

the veil between worlds

thins and hope dims

to a distant northern light

many of the old

the weak

the wounded

will not make it through

this winter

their trails of footsteps

disappear in forgotten woods 

yet god demands

in the depths

of the bleak season

for the young the strong

to imagine and call forth

another spring

undaunted by hard earth

the eternal spruce trees

raise their green boughs

in the frozen air

for those of us

who must see to remember