by Pavel Chichikov
In snowy woods unmerciful
The wild and fawny-dappled stand
Under driving sleet as still
As any nude-stripped wand
And those who nibbled sugar leaf
Now the bitter bark ingest
Scrape beneath the crust of grief
The bitter herb unblessed
And yet they shiver skins and backs
Their warmth within themselves
Flowing blood that winter lacks
Or in the heartwood dwells
And do you know that you will bear
That wintry wilderness,
But will receive the same as deer
Your sustenance and dress?
