In winter's grip, whole forests froze
while silence seized the icy nights
except where one persistent rose
resisted death and lesser frights,
enduring seasons as they passed
and finding ways to live and last.

Some read of it in books of old
or dreamt of it in fleeting spring
then searched for it once days turned cold.

Now they would do most anything
and brave the most forbidding lands
to grasp it in their withered hands,
divine its secrets to survive,
survey its purpose, or derive
some wisdom and tenacity
to slip from time and thrive as free.