January 2 (2016) Poem by Kit Ludlow

How long did I forget that I had a voice,
These hours of meandering gales once hushed?
The world stormed around me. I had a choice
To howl along but my spirit was crushed. 
Nature receives winter in depression;
An air so cold that it steals your breath away;
A sky so gray that no light can lessen. 
You take shelter, bar yourself from the day. 

Outside, the melting snow is sparkling 
From a vermillion sunset, a contrast 
To the white-fury in the years gone past. 

No matter the depth of the sky's darkling,
I will not close my eyes from this ruin.
To resist change, then adapt - is human.