Through frost and fog the church bell rings
Its echo folds on unseen wings;
The maple groves respond in tone
As if the world could pray alone
The sound drifts past the river’s skin
Awakes the homes still closed within;
Each note a pulse a breath a claim
That whispers love through loss and name
I pause upon the snowy hill
The air is cold the moment still;
Yet in that toll my heart perceives
The music roots while body leaves
When silence closes round again
I know the meaning clear and plain;
To live is simply to allow—
Each ring to shape the now