Onward
Damaged
Trudging through
Stale gleam
shade
cycled layers
of goldenrod
and crimson carpet
Lain atop
Damp asphalt 
and reaching blades
of wild pandemic weeds

Leaves fallen
Like letters 
pouring
upon my page
Pale writer
Alone
hardened and temperate
I forge forward
Against the 
Season's Fall

Frost carves
My Heart 
among
stacked spirits
like lifeless leaves
as death grips
Our global
Holiday folly
abandoned by
Unnecessary Loss
In Winter's fading light

Dreams and plans 
maintain
holding patterns
Now
as Arctic glare
shifts
Souls suffer 
Hardship and peril 
Just survive
Or just let go

Longest nights
taunt us
breaching
horrific tallies
daily
Soon
Solstice brings 
The turning 
of the Season
welcome New Light
And change

Long step Autumn
We march
Into the next
Stretching shadows
teach
And grow
We hope
with clear
and weary eyes
Trudging across 
The fallen
Across the 
Crimson Carpet
of Time
as Earthly dreams
and endless voices
are forever silenced

December 11, 2020