The beginning of this season, I was weary and felt very little hope. winter always has challenged me to really embrace what it offers. It does not share the flourishing growth of Spring and Summer, or the beauty of vibrant Autumn. winter has shown me, however, the warmth it holds within. Despite the frost, we a long to be together, to share a meal with one another. There’s such a beautiful aspect to this season; that we come together and rest in community. Winter truly means to give us rest. I hope to convey what Winter has shown me in the four poems below.
-Forgotten season-
When hope is long lost
In a season of frozen hearts
When all the weary
Long for the warmth of an open fire
Might we find within ourselves
The belonging we all desire?
There is a comfort in humanity
When all seems to wither and decay
We are living, vibrant things
Separated, we fade away
-Tis the season –
Mulled cider
In the mug you brought home
From the second-hand store last fall
On it, a sleeping bear
Reminding you of those you hold dear
Christmas cards scattered along the shelves
“We should send one out next year,
“I always forget before it’s too late.”
An angry letter left
to die in a scattered notebook
The holiday lights, tangled in a box
Stored in the attic, a forgotten remembrance
Ghosts of the Christmas party last year
Show their faces, as the memories become clear
tis the season to remember the silent nights
A time of celebration can hold so much to remember
Hurry, soon it will be December
-January –
Frozen solid
Numb in the heart
Winters brutal frost
Spring’s distant, gentle call
The strumming of
a untuned guitar
Phantom longing
Searching for a
Touch forgotten,
A relic of the past
A state of nothingness
Resolutions lost to
The grievance of a
What comes to an end
In all these things
Is January, a month never lived.
A
-The winter solstice-
Sprigs of Eucalyptus
And oranges slices line these walls
Under the evergreen tree, a bounty for us all
Among the changing seasons
Comes a turning point
Fallen leaves blown away
By the winds of change
Entering in the season of frost
No comfort forgotten, or lost
A warm fire roars within an iron wrought
The winter seeps in the windows
Frost flickers on their seals
Just as the grey flecks a wise man’s beard
A double moon provided the only light
As all rejoice for the harvest to come
Dancing in the star light
A glimpse of the kingdom come
The winter solstice only appears
Once a turn of the earth
Take joy in the changing day
Come one and all
Take heart, come lay