Visit To A Wintry Marsh Poem by William Sutherland

A visitor to a wintry marsh, surrounded by a tundra-like
Desolate landscape of whites and grays feels an ineffable sadness from deep within --
Longing with an aching heart for the recently past season of warmth.

A somber silence broken only by the whispering wintry breeze --
Nature's mourning the prevalent loss of the Marsh's
Collection of colors and chorus of sounds - fills the ears.

Frozen plants are clothed in coats of hoar, the leaden sky in clouds of gray,
The icy water in silver array, and the barren ground in sheets of white;
Cattails of straw peacefully sway, naked branches softly creak,
And pallid grasses shimmer and drift impressing upon the visitor
The lonely solitude of the wintry marsh.

Hardly a creature stirs-
Crabs and insects quietly sleep snuggled deep beneath the frost encrusted ground,
Lingering chaff, the remains of a nest of fowl softly rustle in the whispering breeze --
Doleful scenes of the abandoned wintry marsh.

A visitor to a wintry marsh, nipped at the flesh by the biting chill,
Has to look long and hard to find the slightest sign of life --
A few hungry birds thrashing through the snow searching for food that could possibly show.

Only knowledge of the coming spring and its merciful lifting
Of winter's drab and dreary spell can provide the visitor a reason for cheer.