Will you be there when spring comes back?

Winter has been cold and lonely

The snow and my hair are both white and ancient

And my skin is just as cold

Will you be there when spring comes back?

Few come by to see me anymore

Our children have vanished into their homes

Our apple trees have long since died

And they stand in the back like great skeletal hands.’

Gnarled roots cradle the new stone between.

Have you gone so far you cannot return?

Have I insulted you so?

Every cup of tea is spent alone.

Upstairs I have barred away, too weathered to climb--

Too cold to walk out, I have shut every door.

This house has made me alone.

Will you be there when spring comes back?

When my ice all melts away

When the frost leaves my windows again

And I can at last look out.

Maybe you have tried,

Even knocked on the door while I slept

But felt the snow too cold on your feet
And walked away out into the night

Will you be there when spring comes back?

Or is it you beneath the rock

Stationed under our apple tree?

I cannot think it was there before--

But I saw it with our son

Beneath the branches,

It was snowing then--odd I think

For the apples trees were all in bloom,

Despite the black that draped my house.

But you were there, I’m sure I recall

You, with a hand on my sweater,

That night I heard your name in a constant roar--

surely you were there,

With snow piling up and blocking my door.