Peace Rising

In the midst of snow and frost, when hope is suspended and the air limping between the trees, nature seems set for the final rest; all that lives and passes, shiver, worry, desire; under the sky, pure, void, empty and uniform, clouds murmur in boredom; an immense silence has filled the space between the trenches, weighty like a hammer; no cry, no sound of rifles and machine guns, or water to hose them down; the execrable game of wait and fear; and finally a white flag, as white as snow white, filling the air with its sudden brightness, peace at last, the resumption of life and happiness at last. I