Early Winter Poems

11 haiku from the holiday-filled start of winter

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Winter Solstice

Unnecessary
candle, at dusk, this longest
night—I light it still.

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Nocturn

Winter Solstice night—
ample dark hours for the mouse
in my bedroom wall.

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Tradition

Another Christmas
cookie kaleidoscope paints
the kitchen counters.

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Potential

I, too, set with buds—
the magnolia waiting
for spring to blossom.

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The poem below makes reference to A Charlie Brown Christmas as well as my own mixed and conflicted feelings about the spiritual/secular/commercial/entertainment-oriented nature of Christmas.

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Christmas Eve

Confused, we listen
to a bright cartoon sermon,
the sky’s contents, lost.

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Ice Storm

Every tree bearing
a glass crown—in such beauty,
bowing to the ground.

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Family Observation

Driving by the field
my husband sees and shares a
family of crows.

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High Winds

Everywhere the wind
menacing the trees, sweeping,
cleaning old debris.

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Cold Night

Moonlight and mattress,
blankets and pillow—chill seeps
in after the fight.

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Holiday Greetings

Bright voices
from the bright phone fill
these long nights.

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My family has a small tradition of watching Clue on New Year’s Eve. We time it so that the chandelier drops right at midnight, which is referenced in the poem below.

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New Year’s Eve

A chandelier drops
and we rise, bubbles and cheer.
Welcome to the year.

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