Before our colors fade into winter’s quiet dreams,
let us give you one more sweep of hues
to carry you through the colorless cold.
Tuck our bright flags into the corners of your mind.
Wave them on nights when the wind howls,
when winter pulls its white blankets over your fields.
Let them warm you with their flames and encourage you
when the days seem bleak and endless.
Let them whisper to you that winter
is but a pulling back of the Archer’s bow so that,
come spring, shafts of fresh color may fly,
and joy, renewed, may drench your soul.