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Thursday, June 14, 2007

Poetry Thursday: Winter

This is my first completely fulltime week juggling two jobs. It's just light when I leave, and dark by the time I come home. We have had frosts the last few mornings, so I stride out wearing a woolly hat, sheepskin gloves and a warm coat. This morning I hung laundry out before I left. The cold bit into my fingers and made them ache. When I arrived home I found that P was planning roast pork for dinner, so I baked some muffins and biscuits to take advantage of the oven being on (one of my power saving measures). After dinner it was my turn to do the dishes. Now I'm ready for bed. So I am posting an old poem from six or seven years ago which seemed appropriate as I gazed at trees in various stages of dress as I walked to work this morning. Many are completely bare. But this tree in our garden is still covered with beautiful scarlet foliage:



(I think it is a liquidambar, though P. claims it is a maple. But then, all the other maples have lost their leaves already).
Strangely, in the park I drive through on my way to my other job, there are newly planted cherry trees and they are all covered in blossom. But the cold tells me it is definitely winter, not spring. Definitely the time of year for warm flannel nightgowns.

Into Winter

The oak struts
across the stage of the sky
She flaunts her red garments
and tosses them at her audience
winking over her shoulder

The slender birch in the corner
slips her yellow dress from her shoulders
and climbs into bed

While the pines on the hill
keep their prickly green nightgowns
buttoned firmly up to their necks
all through the winter

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More Poetry Thursday here

16 comments:

Crafty Green Poet said...

This is great, Catherine! I love the personification of the trees! It's cold here too but its meant to be summer for us!

paris parfait said...

Great examples of imagery in your poem - and the image accompanying it is beautiful! Well done.

Left-handed Trees... said...

Quiet and lovely poem...

sputnik said...

I like those prickly green nightgowns!

Anonymous said...

Like the vivid images in your poem. Great photo too.

Michelle (a.k.a. la vie en rose) said...

i love the imagery!!!!

Tracie Lyn Huskamp said...

So vivid.. it makes me long for winter... and yet.. summer has just begun

Anonymous said...

That sure looks like sweet gum (liquidambar) to me. Definitely not a maple.

Thanks for this vivid reminder that seasons are entirely a function of where one lives.

Bernie said...

Yep, looks like a Liquidamber to me too...
Great pic and poem as well...
Cheers from across the pond from Sydney.
Here from Michele's this morning...
Bernie

Unknown said...

Lovely poem. I like what you wrote for your profile also.

Michele sent me!

chicklegirl said...

What a gift you have, making prudes and hussies of the trees! This poem really made me smile, and the picture is so pretty, with the contrast of red and blue.

Pat said...

Oooh we have finished with the winter
praise be. You are certainly a busy bee. I like hanging washing out and don't use a dryer- the clothes are fresher and fragrant. I love the modest pines in your poem. Michele says hi!

Kay Cooke said...

I like the humour in the poem. The seasons help us to notice trees don't they?
I love walking to work in winter ... even better than in summer for some reason - I think it's because winter is so much more elemental; dramatic.

Tammy Brierly said...

Really enjoyed how you let my imagination soar. Bravo!

Tiffany said...

Great poem! Michele sent me :)

Sr. Heather said...

Oh - that's absolutely gorgeous! I love the trees as women. Thank you!

Cheers,
Hedwyg