"The Winter Palace"
The winter palace is surrounded by forests of conifers
Trees spreading out forever in a vast expanse of grave cold
Cold which tests the threads of survival
Cold which anyone would dearly love to come in from
You push the vaulted doors open and enter
There are watchmen against the stone walls
Long red carpets leading you into the feast room
And tapestries hung on every wall
Some portray servants catching wild boar
Or ladies courting knights on horseback
Tables heavy-laden with food
Macaroni and cheese pie, roast beef, mushrooms
Egg custard, watermelon, green beans and dinner rolls
Hot cups of  spiced juice and hot coffee
Women in burgundy silk dresses and royal blue satin
Women with stars hung in their dark hair
Children peeking out from under the tables
Eating drumsticks with sauce on their faces
And pets snuggled up by the fireplace
Where it roars in a magnificent glow
Beautiful couples are dancing to ballroom music
And older women are handing people presents
Wrapped up in gold crepe foil and red velvet
With puppies and baby mice in some
And elegant jewelry and hair combs in others
And purses of money and little trinkets
Down the hall there is a library with books
That take you all over the world from east to west
The pictures in these books tell stories words cannot
And you look in them and get swept away
Servants in the kitchen chopping vegetables
And baking roast beef in heavy gravy
And pouring it over rice pilaf
And children hurrying it out onto the tables
The night above is cold and bright
And the wind sweeps ice crystals all around
They are piling on and on around the door
But happiness comes in times of plenty
When there is a harvest of all good things
Things struggled for and scrounged and saved
And there are places just like this
All over the world
In Jesus' Name,
Amen