The Chrysalis. Poem by Ross Ulysses Munroe

An old woman is in the mountains
struggling through a blizzard
waist-deep in snow.

Over the ridges in the valley
she can see the welcoming lights
of a village far below the snow line.

But she is too exhausted to continue
and falls into the white powder.
I say ‘But you will be reborn.'

I open her blouse and her breast
is soft and young.

She comes alive
losing decades of burdens.
She stands and begins to stride
with the force of Aeolus
down the mountainside
toward the village.

With every step
the tears fall away.

And she is renewed.