White whispers find a burning red
Two seasons meet and bow their head;
Contrast writes a deeper law
Beauty ripened by a flaw
Cold settles like a careful hand
On arteries of firebrand;
The leaf accepts the frosted kiss
And learns restraint inside its bliss
I think of times when joy met pain
When winter walked with autumn’s vein;
Opposites married in my chest
And paradox became my rest
The scene will melt the branch grow spare
Yet memory keeps the braided prayer;
Hold heat and hush within one heart
Let both complete a larger art