Excerpts from Just Clara May
by Clara May Ayres

Winter's End

Good-bye, Good-bye to Winter's End
Where branches bare no more shall bend to winter's icy winds.
Good-bye, Good-bye to wondrous drifts of pristine snow
That changes all unsightly scenes
To glistening hills and misty valleys low
As lovely as my dreams.

    I stop and listen.
The wind is whispering through the trees,
Causing leafless branches to sing discordant songs
That sound as if a thousand tiny violins
Tune up to play in ghostly symphonies.

    I stand upon a bank.
To watch a trickling stream
Strive and struggle through the ice and snow
Looking like a silver ribbon far below.
The frosty, laden branches of trees on either side
Dip their icy fingers in the stream
As if to hide and grab some silver for their own.

   I lift my eyes
To distant scenes of snowy peaks on high,
Calm, cold, peaceful,
And to see the silhouettes against the white
Of wild geese flying by.

    No more I'll sit beside my window sill
To watch the tiny winter birds
Pick, one by one, the seeds I scattered there,
They stop to wink at me, then disappear.

    Farewell to nights before my cozy fire
Where closer bonds with friends are forged
And lovely stories merge
That I have never heard before.

    My heart beats fast, I hold my breath,
The storm I hoped would come
Is here at last!
Lightning flashes that blind my eyes
Pierce the sky, start thunder's frightening roar.
Now the wind, its fury beats against my door.
I look again
And see the dark and awesome clouds
Roll swiftly toward the stormy seas.

    I wonder why I love the winter so?
I know when Spring breaks through
My winter's gone.
The storms and clouds and castles made of snow must go,
But Oh, I'll miss them so.

This poem by Clara May Ayres was first published in "Reminiscing and Writing", a volume of writings from a workshop at Panorama City in Lacey, Washington. It was later included in Clara May's published book, "Just Clara May."

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