February’s Child

© Ginny Brannan 2016

The gelid crystals slip slowly down

to coat the tattered shrouds

of yesterday’s snowfall,

too fast now soiling on frozen ground

The crisp night air calls my name—

I inhale like an addict needing a fix

and exhale the staleness and weight of this day.

December is darkness;

January holds sway to darker day

her light always just below the horizon;

but February...February brings shift and promise

I am February’s child—

   no stranger to adversity

garnering my strength in

the luster of her lengthening days,

holding onto renewal and hope

that scopes more sharply now,

bringing truth and clarity to

   this ever-aging line of sight

...yes, I am February’s child,

    ever reaching for the light.

© Ginny Brannan 2016