WHITE

Inspired by Beth Kempton's Winter Writing Sactuary, winter pallet- WHITE, and the arrival of the first snow

Frosty Forest

Audio version:

Snow - day one: The snow came as the sun sank in the sky. Softly, at first, it fell, covering the dark streets, then the grass, then the trees, until white was everywhere. In the morning, the whiteness drew me out for a long walk in a world transformed into brightness. Beth Kempton ’s lesson arrived with the snow and such divine synchronicity that the images fell like snowflakes and the words crystalized on the page.

WHITE
The grey, damp cold of the Parisian winter 
transformed  
into a glorious, snowy, white fairyland 
My favorite landscape! 
Suddenly, the world is bright 
as if hope has come to stay 
Changing my dismal thoughts into celebration 
The world illuminated from within

I walk through the white wonderland
The cold crisp air lifting me up, energizing my spirit 
Floating on fluffy clouds of pearly white 
My smooth boot soles on the slippy path 
let me glide with the sliding strides 
of a skater or cross-country skier 
One works up more of a sweat this way! 
Much more cardio.

I wear out my phone battery 
snapping pictures of the wintry scenes
snowy pine needles 
frosty trees 
the ghostly winter sun through a frozen fog

All to keep in my memory 
when the grey returns 
which it will…after tomorrow 
The temperature will rise 
The snowflakes will turn to rain 
My pristine world will wash away 
Tears staining the land with wet muddy streaks 
Back to grey 

In the morning, before dawn 
more snowflakes dance in the wind outside my window. 
Violent gusts blow flying flakes 
into swirls, loops, coils and gyrations 
Ribbons of white ticker tape 
in the glow of a solitary streetlight 

As the new day arrives
the wind calms
I close my eyes and see the reflection 
of white inside my eyelids 
White everywhere 
White glowing 
White sparkling 
White lifting my spirit 
Stay with me white
 

White sun

Snowy pine