My Journey to God

The Little Match Girl

The old year is cold
and lonely,
and Jack Frost

follows me here
sheltered by sky
the color of plums

and the warmth
of passing laughter,
but I have a bundle

of luck
tucked inside
this small

torn pocket,
and it harbors promises:
sunshine,

eiderdown,
an enormous white pine,
alive

and climbing
recklessly
toward heaven.

By Nettie Farris

(Nettie Farris is a member of St. Mary-of-the Knobs Parish in Floyd County.) †