When in Winter...

 ~ When In Winter ~

The days are shaped by white,

The nights are long

Blanket-bound hours,

Clad in crystalline longing.

Shards of ice and shivers;

The Snow Queen’s words

All etched in hoarfrost,

Obscure the windows,

And echo, cave-like, with

Cursive blustery curses

And fragments of mystery

Barely kept at bay

By wood smoke

And remembrance spells

Chanted hearth-side where

Warmth ghost-sings

In frost-edged dreams, and tea

Drowns one’s throat

With a wash of flowers

And memories of Spring.