January 22: These Trees

These trees whose branches wave

in the wind up and down our block

know this neighborhood in a way

we never will. Some have been here

100 years or more, have seen snow

fall winter after winter and have felt

summer spring forth from tiny buds

dreamed of during January’s icy cold.

They know deeply, even if we do not,

that transformation occurs even now,

even in the midst of frigid despair.

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