Winter

Ah winter! The first snow is always the most welcome and the prettiest, don't you think? After Christmas with our children and family, we came back to five inches, accumulated while we were gone. Lovely! It made me think of two poems; one written by a friend of mine, Sara Bush, now deceased and one by me which speaks to going forward into the new year, always with hope, but also with some amount of uncertainty. My poem is called Footprints in the Snow

How peaceful to walk in the crusty snow
Deep in the woods at night
'White on white
My footprints go, making a path
To show where I have been

Suddenly
The moon peeks out
Between still, sleeping trees
And finds a spot
To shine its muted light
And to illuminate my uncertain steps

Everything is silent and quiet
No noise
Except for the lone owl
Hooting and hooting above me
To break the silence
And to let me know that I am not alone

My steps are fresh and tentative
In this woods so new to me
So much before me is unknown
My only measure
The footprints behind
To show where I have been.


The poem by my friend, Sara Bush is called Winter Garden

"Yes, we can have roses in December,"
someone has said (I can't remember who),
"Because God gave us memories,"
And it is true.
Kaleidoscopic pictures turn:
Behind closed eyelids, sunsets burn
of many summers gone
And tawny woods of autumns sped
still swirl the leaves inside my head,
Still make my eyes and nostrils sting
with perfume of burnt offerings.
The vernal fires of greening trees
ingnite the songs of chickadees,
And, lo! The robins and the cardinals come!
No longer, nature stricken dumb
in crystal caves of ice and snow
Indeed, the winter roses grow
In hearts like mine that are contrary
the monarchs fly in January!
And all bright loves and friendships shine
That once were ever yours and mine.

Wishing all my readers peace, illumination, quiet, companionship, adventure, footprints, and good memories to sustain you in 2010.