I’m sure we all know this song:

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight

not a footprint to be seen.

The lyrics flow through my head

Like the wind on harsh winter’s night

The fire long gone, not even smoke

To remind us that warmth is just a flicker away

The warmth of family

Of friends

Of pets

Of loved ones

All just a few thoughts away.

 

So why does it hurt to think on it

Just because the hugs can’t reach through a screen

The loving words are harder to feel through a piece of metal 

we all seem so keep on pretending is our livelihood

That being halfway across the world

Away from everything I knew, could be so hard

Unable to come to terms with the thought that

Yes, your grandmother did die and

No, you could not come to say goodbye

That your family could go through surgery

and you weren’t given so much as an email or call

to say hey I”m alright, or even that they were hurt in the first place.

 

So tell me that this harsh winter’s air will fall away into spring.

I won’t understand till it does,

but let me hear these loving words

even through a flimsy piece of metal, or a Skype call

That everything will be alright

Cause the warmth will soon come

And the frost will thaw

And you will find that family waiting

Just outside the door

With smiles, and pets, and friends,

Waiting to embrace you that moment

When you decide to come home again.