25 Dey 1404
Quatrain 68 of 75
“I have a Friend, a Woman-friend indeed,
More frail and fickle than I am told the Rose,—
Wine, Ruby Wine! my bosom-friend in need,
Brings smiling News of Spring before it blows.”
Reflection · Winter 1404
In winter the wine-friend is the most valued friend — the one who sits with you in the cold and dark and brings something warm, something that holds the memory of spring and summer. More frail and fickle than the rose — and yet in winter the wine outlasts the rose, is more present than the rose, is here when the rose is only a concept.
Brings smiling news of Spring before it blows — in winter this news is most needed. The wine in the cup is smiling news of spring, translated through the alchemy of autumn into something that can survive the winter cold.