Audio version:
Snow - day two: More powdery pondering. The wind howls, the snow crunches under my feet…
WINTER WALK Such fleeting beauty in this part of the world I want to absorb it into my veins inhale it into my lungs lock it inside me where it won’t melt away Warming me with its frozen beauty The wind whistles across the open field Eerie sounds in the air echo the squeak of my boots in the snow I enter the snowy forest The silence Everything still Cushioned in white No Sound…and yet when I pause and listen I hear the life around me A great tit* chatters in the treetops A robin chiffs from her branch A black bird clucks, “Who goes there?” as he flies low across the path A tree creeper flits up a tree trunk in small, sporadic spurts Ruby rose hips and crimson crab apples peek out from under a blanket of white revealing a tasty treat for the birds I don’t want to leave the forest to return to the open world I am Clara leaving the Sugar Plum Fairy’s land waking from her dream in the Nutcracker ballet Here in winter in snow in Narnia I am reluctant to step back through the wardrobe into my life before the forest ... As I emerge from under the snow-cloaked branches the musky smell of wood smoke rises from a chimney and floats on the wind I inhale and take in the sweetness of life.
*a European relative of the North American chickadee
Your words brought us there with you. So lovely. Thank you
This poem feels like a dreamy dance, so gorgeous!