On redemption

As summer dances away

    and my toes curl on the grass

I am reborn.

As fall sheds the world of ease,

    leaves welcoming the crunch,

I am reborn.

As winter chips away at bark

    so do I cast off all facades.

Since the Gods relented

    some two score years ago,

        every night my soul brought to the scales,

        every sunrise, happened anew,

            returned to the world, feather outmatched,—

        at every chance, a dare

        to meet Their steep demands

        on which this sacred pact depends,—

I am reborn.

And as the naked, tired birch

    softly stumbles into spring

Again,

I am reborn.