Bare
at first, it looks like Death
dead grass, dead leaves
dead, gray sky
where are the ice diamonds
and soft snow blanket?
how can it compare
with Springtime abundance
verdant Summer
Autumn blaze?
but –
look again
at spidery huckleberry bush wrinkles
on leafy brown weathered skin
lichen age spots
and crooked branch hands
bare Winter reveals
the hidden ageless Grandmother
twinkle in her eye
the bare brush scratchy whiskers
on Grandfather’s kindly face
the loving Elder
who never dies