The Lonely Winter Flower

A poem I wrote this winter, inspired by an elderly woman whose husband had died that fall.

The Lonely Winter Flower

She stands in the middle of the frozen field
Rooted to the ground
Unable to flee
Unable to sink into the ground with the rest

She won’t let herself die
She knows she can make it
She’s waiting for the spring
Where her friends and her family will come back
She’ll be happy at last

Her icy coat is keeping her hidden
Below the snow
Where she can’t be found
And the sun cannot reach her

She struggles on
Hoping for the light
She slumbers for now
Unable to flee

But when the spring comes
She finds that there are no familiar faces
No similar petals
Her friends are all gone
Her family has died
The only ones now
Is she and the new flowers

Only she has seen the winter
What the trees go through
What the animals go through
And the Christmas comes this year
She won’t be the only one