Winter Seasons: Trees Unmasked, Poem
Instead of anxiety, Philippians tells us, we should “think on things that are lovely….” (4:6, 8). But what if life has dropped us in the middle of a drab winter season when there’s not much loveliness to find?
A while back, I thought of the bare trees of winter—with their gray-brown spider branches marring the sky—as a necessary ugliness to tolerate between the lovely colors of autumn leaves and the first buds of spring. But then I read an article that lauded winter trees. I don’t remember where or exactly what it said, but it inspired a new attitude—an appreciation for their beauty—for trees that show their bones, not afraid of their shape, their structure, the true stuff you can’t see when they’re covered with leaves.
Please enjoy this poem, thanking the Lord who desires our company, just the way he made us, no matter how dark the cold world.
Trees Unmasked
Suckling leaves of summer’s stint
Grew and lingered
Flourished in charm
Passed their prime
Too fragile for winter’s play
Shake off the garb!
Bare the bones to chilly blasts!
Unashamed of wrinkled bark
Branches prove unflinching brawn
Knuckles stretch
Company of fingers
Reach the backlit sky
Waving
Snapping
Praising
Parley with the wind
Time to unmask
No secrets
Raw wonder
Unbridled trust
Face down the full brunt of winter
Maturing
Brooding
Birthing new buds of Spring
“Naked Trees” Copyright Patricia Tillman, 2020
I would love to hear your response, your own thoughts of inner beauty and strength…