A Lonely Tree in the Winter

A Villanelle

A lonely tree in the winter

Branches leafless and weak

Now barren and worn and splintered

The sun fled the sky forever

The weather turned cold and bleak

A lonely tree in the winter

The fires last summer left cinders

Where others had stood by the creek

Now barren and worn and splintered

Still autumn in memory lingers

Red flowers once fell by my feet

A lonely tree in the winter

The days towards the end of November

When children would romp in my leaves

Barren and worn and splintered

I will be renewed and enraptured

By the warmth and the love of the spring

A lonely tree in the winter

Barren and worn and splintered.

Copyright © 2022, Robert G. Metivier. All Rights Reserved.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

inspired by:

“That in the winter, seeing a tree stripped of its leaves, and considering that within a little time, the leaves would be renewed, and after that the flowers and fruit appear, he received a high view of the Providence and Power of GOD, which has never since been effaced from his soul. That this view had perfectly set him loose from the world, and kindled in him such a love for GOD, that he could not tell whether it had increased in above forty years that he had lived since.”

― Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God

If you like my work, please: Buy Me a Coffee

Thank you for taking the time to read!