Winter trees

Winter trees

The winter trees are bare
And the birds have flown away
The wind cuts to the bone
And the old man kneels to pray

He thinks about his wife
Twenty years since she’s been gone
And he thinks about his life
And how to carry on

The young girl hurries home
With supper for her Dad
If she’s late he’ll drink and curse
There is red meat in her bag

The road is full of holes
There are dead leaves in the ice
Who will save their souls?
it’s a brittle paradise

An angel looks down on these scenes
The world is poised now, in between
The Christ child came in humble grace
So why not here in this broken place?

Sleep, my darling, sleep and breathe
Thy Father whispers in thy dreams
Thy Mother who gave birth to goodness
Gives birth again to thee

The winter trees are bleak and bowing
Our brave lives fall like leaves
The frozen fields are brown and barren
But new life lies beneath

Every child of God, my darling
Can raise their eyes and see
We are pure in heart like the snow that’s fallen
Upon the winter trees

There’s a world of form, and a world of time
And a world where poems no longer rhyme
There’s a world within, and a world beyond
That only a child of God knows of

There’s a world of love and a world of fear
We can live out there or we can live in here
A star of Bethlehem appears
In every holy child

By the church a prophet’s singing
Only he can hear bells ringing
Angels give him songs of grace
He sings in every broken place

So sleep, my darling, softly breathing
Spirit moves when thou art dreaming
Behold the golden star of heaven
Beyond the winter trees