Winter Wakened in My Heart, Lisa Barnett (March 2026)

 

Winter Wakened in My Heart

On being diagnosed with heart failure.
After the 14^th century lyric, “Wynter Wakeneth Al My Care.”

Winter wakened in my heart,

and its rhythm fell apart.

How much longer can I chart

the years I've left to live and breathe

as leaves turn green, then brown?

All seasons end in grief,

and yet they still must branch and flow,

Whether I'm here or gone below,

the sun will burn, the wind will blow

another hundred years or more,

though winter grows much colder,

and spring contains no cure.

All my dreams at once seem thwarted,
and my faith is long departed;
I see the end of all I’ve started—
my too-small measure on this earth.
I pray the seasons’ passage
my life may yet preserve.