Winter Bone
Winter Bone
The long exhalation of winter descends on my bones.
Leeching the life from my blood until I’m left as barren as the land.
The quiet hush of snow covered ground hides the impatient musings of my mind
as I seek a way beyond the bland limitations of this body.
A fierce squall emerges from the darkness.
It feeds upon itself as it builds into a formidable wall of ice
and protects the fragile being lost in the abyss
Snowflakes drift by, oblivious.
by Michelle Murray
Artist Statement
This poem was inspired by an in-class activity for the writing class, From Mundane To Miraculous with Maisha Manson.
We were asked to write about a season that correlates to how we feel in the moment. At the time I was in a great deal of physical pain with the cooling weather. As a person living with chronic pain, winter is a difficult period. There are many parallels between winter and chronic pain and this poem is my way of merging the two in a way that expresses the difficulties and realities of both the season of winter and the seasons of pain. Yet despite the cold and barren starkness of winter, there is a certain beauty and strength hidden beneath the fallen snow. People who live with chronic pain also carry it with a quiet strength that is unseen by those passing in and out of our lives.
