Branches hold pale birds
snow settles like linen
Fruit gone to memory
roots study the cold
Breath hangs like lace
footprints stitch fields
Frost frames each thorn
beauty refuses haste
Old ladders lean quietly
rungs dream of harvest
Sap sleeps in amber
time knits a sleeve
Spring will choose its hour
not ours to command
Patience tastes sweet cider
pressed by frost