Approach of Winter
William Carlos Williams
The half-stripped trees
struck by a wind together,
bending all,
the leaves flutter drily
and refuse to let go
or driven like hail
stream bitterly out to one side
and fall
where the salvias, hard carmine,—
like no leaf that ever was—
edge the bare garden.
Every winter, When the great sun has turned his face away, The earth goes down into a vale of grief, And fasts, and weeps, and shrouds herself in sables, Leaving her wedding-garlands to decay — Then leaps in spring to his returning kisses. — Charles Kingsley, Saint’s Tragedy
Solstice Song – Denise Jordan Finley
i heard your voice upon the wind
as northerly it came
now i see your face again
as you call out your name
when i feel your frosty breath
tears will fall like snow
who may melt your heart of ice
who may only know
the musky scent of earth’s decay
hangs heavy on the breeze
breezes turn to winds one day
that rock the very trees
when you rage through rusty woods
leaves will fall like rain
who can calm your heart so cruel
who can only name
when the ring around the moon
lends beauty to the night
planets circle round the sun
and bask in borrowed light
if a taste of spring should wake
what winter white would quell
who may own the mystery
who may only tell
Maverick Mist 