Dear Winter,

You gave me gloom,

And bleak days.

You locked me in my room,

And made my days gray.

Soon, that changed.

I began to savor the steadfast,

The unchanged.

And stopped resisting.

The winter wind blew by,

And I didn’t hate it.

I looked in the sky,

And smiled a bit.

I cover with blankets,

And warm myself in knit.

Put persimmons in baskets,

And stand where the fire's lit.

I see your beauty,

Shimmering in the trees,

And while drinking warm tea,

I’m at peace with your freeze.

I’m given serenity,

In winter's still days.

You don’t limit my identity,

For now I see your ways.