by Winifred Rawlins
I came by night where snow lay deep;
All was transfixed in frozen sleep;
I felt a sudden small wind blow
And saw a fire burn in the snow,
With tongues of crimson throb and leap.
Who gave it life I could not know;
Some hand had kindled its brave show;
I felt its primal laughter steep
My mind in happiness and keep
Me gazing, with no will to go.
Now as I sit and watch you weep,
When knowledge fails and words are cheap,
I’ll make a little smoldering glow
of tenderness, and bid it grow;
When it begins to laugh and leap
I’ll light a fire in your snow.
from Dreaming Is Now, published by Golden Quill Press, 1963. (c) 1963, All rights reserved.