The light of January

caresses my skin

warming me –

despite the bite

of the wind…

There is a hope in my heart

I hardly know how to navigate.

A loss I feel

but do not kneel to…

I will not be cowed

by grief –

will not bow to it…

I will, instead,

hold fast to the hope

brought by January sunlight…

a newness in the day

unshackled by old regrets…

untainted by this

old grief.

Alive.