In breaths of solitude

Blustery woods of passing amnesia

Creep up shallow ridges of my mettle,

By cold ironies and words I settle

Like echoes of a far-off Elysia.

Cadence the winds, oh winter breath,

Like the sun of life God gave Seth.

My footsteps collapse in the aching snow,

My shy throat is scorched like the leaden skies,

The paths of exile are tiled with lies;

Their expanse I cannot fathom to know.

Oh mellow voice amid the storm,

Dispel this curse’s stinging swarm.

Mirage, she comes to me in cold allure!

With silken sway she blights despair,

Nettling snowflakes melt in her hair:

Enchanted flowers bloom in spring-like lure.

You have sent me thy pure vision,

Dazed like Saul on roads of indecision.

In breaths of solitude we all linger,

We lurch on creaking branches in the gale:

But listen once to that inner singer,

“You love and live, despair’s of no avail!”