Winter Song

I have given you a flower that only blooms in winter
it thrives in layered frost, fairies skating on its spreading petals
little rinks like engagement rings
it sleeps in summer, waiting for the chill
of December to coax it into life
and remind it of the miraculous cold
the ice, the ice
the wind
the breath of vigor in the early months
when the world is waking up
again

keep it safe
for it is yours
and only yours now
and it is fragile

I traced myself into its stem
so do not cut the thorns
this flower, with its dusky hues and frozen dew,
is my rib, my wrist, my right hand
my quiet parts that rise up in the velvet dark of winter
the velvet quietness
of the first merciful freeze of January
the freeze, the frozen place
inside my palm
and it will bloom in yours
but only yours

keep it safe
for it is yours
and only yours now

and it is fragile