my fathers body lies beneath the snow high on a hill in holmes county ohio from there you can look out across the fields a farmer guides his horses home as day to darkness bends and finally yields dads gravestone holds the words be still my soul a song we sang together long ago and there were times we even shared one hymnbook his right hand and my left hand side by side holding pages of music but now his hands hold nothing but the earth hands that held me moments after my birth and so we must all finally surrender as we release our grip upon whatever we hold dear and call familiar my fathers body lies beneath the snow and im still learning how to let him go ive come to know him better since hes gone and often wondered if or how i couldve been a different better son my fathers body lies beneath the snow sometimes on christmas eve thats where i go i hear faint christmas bells from far away ring out all the unspoken words ive never found within myself to say