Winter is not a woman to be overcome. Her frigid attention is more than a hardship to be endured. Her cold embrace is not meant to be escaped for a series of tropical one night stands with grave robbers exhuming fossilized forests, cremating the fallen, combusting ancient ghosts, and feeding the mechanical dragons that shrink the earth with black magic to deliver more invaders than wooden ships ever did. Winter does not forgive those who lust so blindly for her death or “the return of light” that they have conquered darkness by enslaving energy, and forcing electricity to jump at the flick of a switch. Winter wishes there was more time to hide under blankets, and to ponder cozy fires without facing the heat. Frostbite and hypothermia are seasonal disorders that Winter understands but the gaunt, muddy corpses of once-white polar bears prove that you cannot hibernate your way out of starvation. Room temperature simply is not a season. And, the worst form of seasonal affective disorder are the delusions of those who fuel the belief that we deserve the comforts of warmth and access to the labor of light without end.
Will Falk (he/him) is a biophilic activist, author, and attorney. The natural world speaks and poetry is how Will listens. His law practice is devoted to helping Native American communities protect their sacred sites and cultural resources. He is the author of How Dams Fall (Homebound Publications, 2019) and When I Set the Sweetgrass Down (Wayfarer Books, 2023). You can follow his work at willfalk.org.
