Suspended grace (Dec, 98)   The chill of winter curls around my toes And hushes ice suspended in a pond. The crack of booted footsteps through the rows Of sleeping vines recalls another bond. My soul sends signals to a bird in flight Who pauses in his mission through the day To seek a nearby shelter for the night He wraps me in his wings and flies away. And through the dusk a mighty bell will toll And ringing, rock the winter in my soul.