Savor the winter bite,
Though it stiffens your fingers to uselessness,
Though as shards of glass, it moves to
Pierce and flay you bare to bone
Just to remind you again
That you are not welcome here
Savor it regardless; for it will
Recommend you in the end, and testify on your behalf:
He was cold so they could be warm
Savor the exile,
As their aspersions echo in triplicate,
Settle close and hissy whispers will clarify, yes,
Hear now the orchestra
Of a dozen harmonizing rebukes
Issued forth by those
Whose minds lie dusty from disuse,
Whose cracked tongues bleed distilled idiocy
Whose coarse groping touch inspires nothing and no one
Even the diplomats among them would not tread in
The winding valley you’ve called home
They would wither without their sun
But as its beams heat their flesh,
So too does it claim their eyes
Odd - that even in their blindness
They know nothing of the darkness that binds them
Savor the vagabond role
It is the cost of dual citizenship
Remember the Engineer’s oath
Remember your assignment
Savor the songbird’s song, and,
On the days you hear it, do not deny you’ve heard it,
And sing it over in your heart - the song bird
Who flies over valley and peak all the same,
She is part of a timeless order of angels
And will cover you as you explore the Gray
Love them as they come, and they will lift you out
When your work is done