Perseverence

Bare and leafless you stand
As the Wind barks at what’s left.
Your limbs sway as you laugh back.
The clots where you bled—
Proof of the hardened life you led.
The wrinkles left by time
Hide the smooth wisdom of your years.
The industrial cold infects your lungs,
but firmly rooted you are, silent and waiting,
for hope has fallen with the Sun’s tears.
You won’t back down, for spring is near:
“So strike hard, Wind. I am still here.”