Modeled after “A Christmas Carol” aka “In the Bleak Midwinter” by Christina Rossetti, 1872
In the bleak midwinter
Burning sun made blaze;
Earth cracked dry as corpses;
Water lost to haze;
Snow forgotten; snow, what snow?
Frozen brow and nose
In the tundra of winter lost
Long, long ago.
Our charge, heaven entrusted,
Earth could not sustain.
Bird and flower flee away
When we come to reign.
In the lasting winter
A stable death sufficed
For us in murder-suicide
Too cold to turn to Christ.
What have I to give him,
Barely getting by? —
If I could live without my hearth,
I would offer him the sky.
If faithfulness meant safety,
Then I’d lay down my sword.
These filthy rags still wash my hands
For the greeting of my Lord.
April 8th, 2019
The Favoring Wind 