Tracks To Your Heart

Winter came with a vengeance;
Howling winds kicking up snow into mile high drifts,
Shooting ice crystal darts into any living soul,
That dared to brave these conditions;
A new and emerging snowscape 
Transformed the buried earth below;
And the cold grew deeper, and deeper, and deeper,
Seeping into the heart,
Until the life-waters had all but frozen solid,
Until the nuthatch and snow cat dared not venture forth,
Until all living things seemed to hibernate,
Waiting and hoping that spring would arrive.

But bundled in warmth,
I sought you.
I knew you were buried within an icy recess of your soul;
I knew winter had not been kind to you,
And I was coming for you,
To thaw what had been hardened,
To melt the snow into rivers of life,
To bring warmth to your bones and healing to your soul.

And so I set out - one solitary figure within your world of white;
And my movement caught your eye;
And a trail of footprints appeared on your landscape
Making tracks to your heart.
You shook your head in disbelief.
“You’re crazy!” you thought;
“Only a lunatic would be out in this weather.”
“Turn back!” you yelled over the rising din of the winds;
“You’ll never make it! I’m too far out. I’m too cold. Its too late.”

But little did you know that none of those things were true;
Little did you know how far real love would go for you,
And I don’t blame you.
How could you know?
You had never known real love.

And your voice just spurred me on,
And your cries and warnings brought me closer;
And before you knew it I had
Made tracks to your heart;
And I held you close so that you knew love’s warmth,
And I didn’t let go.
And you cried and cried,
And your heart melted,
And it ran, and ran, and ran,
Like streams of water cascading down so many mountaintops;
And the rush of it was deafening,
And the release - of an incredible volume;
And your deep, dark valleys filled with life-giving waters;
And the earth sang and rejoiced;
And all which breathed and moved came forth,
For spring had come.

And you blossomed -
And oh, how beautiful you are! -
Winter’s rose,
Colored by the depths of pain,
Scarred by your thorny past - 
The most beautiful thing I have ever seen!
And though my path melted with the snow,
Our footprints still remain,
As we forever walk hand in hand,
Along the tracks to your heart.