Winter Sun

By Molly Fisk Molly Fisk
How valuable it is in these short days,
threading through empty maple branches,
the lacy-needled sugar pines.
 
Its glint off sheets of ice tells the story
of Death’s brightness, her bitter cold.
 
We can make do with so little, just the hint
of warmth, the slanted light.
 
The way we stand there, soaking in it,
mittened fingers reaching.
 
And how carefully we gather what we can
to offer later, in darkness, one body to another.

Poem copyright ©2010 by Molly Fisk from her most recent book of poetry, The More Difficult Beauty, Hip Pocket Press, 2010. Reprinted by permission of Molly Fisk and the publisher.

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Originally appeared in Poetry magazine.

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