“First Snow”, posted for OneShotPoetry

Winter Scene, from the bbc.files

CHECK OUT STEVE ISAAK’S  MICROSTORY SITE, JUST UP TODAY!

HE’S RUNNING THE METAMORPHOSIS SERIES, I-VI THROUGH JANUARY 20, 2011.  HUMOR WITH BATS….

http://microstoryaweek.blogspot.com/

Also check out Steve’s weblog:  readingbypublight.blogspot.com

Lady Nyo

–

“FIRST SNOW”

–

The morning brought a first snow,

Blown by the wind over the mountain.

I watched snow turn to ice,

Invisible sleet hit the panes a’ hissin’,

And soon a crystal coat on tender branches—

Invisible hands pulling to earth,

Icy fingers anchoring them fast.

–

I depend upon the silence

Creating a space to remember,

Solitude, too, now to be shared

Only with ghosts,

Or perhaps a cat or two.

–

Inside the comfort of crackling  wood,

Well seasoned of last year’s split,

The sweet, sharp tang of pine and oak,

The groan of a log shifting its failing weight.

I remember your boot kicking it back off the hearth,

Sparks flaring upward,

Stars enfolded by a blazing sun.

–

Outside the pelting sting on windows,

The howl of winter racing round eaves

Looking for attic-access between clapboards,

A hambone- skeleton dance to

Shake its palsied bones warm.

–

Soon  fading light at twilight

Suspends the day

In a cocoon of white, unfocused mystery.

The night brings a muffled benediction

Over the land

And memory is put aside for the morrow.

–

Jane Kohut-Bartels

Copyrighted, 2010

“First Snow” , from “White Cranes of Heaven”, to be published by Lulu.com soon.

Tags: "First Snow", Cold Weather, from "White Cranes of Heaven", http://microstoryaweek.blogspot.com/, http://oneshotpoetry.blogspot.com/, http://readingbypublight.blogspot.com, memories, poetry, Wintertime