Bittersweet

The inscription for this holiday card inspired its illustration.

My daughter wrote this haiku when she was 10 (she's 19 now):

Icy orange fruit,
American bittersweet
blossoms in the cold.

"I'd like to turn this into a Christmas card?" I said, stunned.

"Why?" Maura asked, underwhelmed.

Why? It's exquisite. Unadorned but so evocative, a moment of fire-bright warmth in the bleak mid-winter, blessed by a precise touch of detail — American bittersweet, a variety of fruity climbing plant. A graceful nod to nature.

A simple gift by which I wish you peace this holiday.