Winter’s Sorrow

How I wish

This heart would ache

As the little girl sold

Soggy matches in the cold.

How I wish

This snow would soften

As the tiny toes numbed

Within worn-out boots, two sizes big. 

How I wish

This frost would thaw

As the stiff, wrinkled hands

Trembled to hold the pail.

How I wish

This ice would melt

When the embers long bid goodbye

And the stove refused to warm up.

How I wish

This blizzard would relent 

As the tattered old bed

Failed to cocoon the fragile limbs.

How I wish

This existence of mine

Stole the frozen tears 

And vanished into the dark. 

***

Photo By: Alice Key