Sun cuts low through trees,
Squirrels burrow under roots,
People chase daylight.
Winter solstice then Christmas
Hibernation ~ if only ~
#
~National Grid alert~
Christmas stomping on the world:
an unwanted gift
their electricity bill
our indefinite future
#
Once crowned with a star,
it glittered in the firelight.
Last year’s Christmas tree
dumped, forgotten and homeless,
its chocolate coins melted.
#
Besieged on all sides,
chimneys whistle, timbers creak–
December gale.
Beyond, in cardboard city,
lie papier-mâché homes.
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The winter weather has been perfect for painting the interior of our home. I’m almost done and then I can start dreaming of nicer weather. Until then the wood stove warms our bodies, and your writing warms this writer’s soul.
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I was thinking of you and your post of last week, when I posted these tanka poems today! We’ve had our first snow today, but only sleety stuff that hasn’t settled, unlike in the rest of the UK. It was still very slippery underfoot when I took the dog out, so am hoping all that mushy stuff doesn’t freeze tonight. Meanwhile, I have had my back to the window for hours on end, while lost in writing my novel. At the moment, it is the end of August in the story, so lovely and hot!
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What a wonderful quartet of tanka poems.
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Thank you, Dale 🙂 And my apologies for being neglectful of you. I still haven’t caught up with myself after NaNoWriMo. Hope to do so after Christmas or, ideally, before then!
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Please, no apologies are necessary! I know you’ll be ’round when you can! Like right here, right now 😉
Yes, do let us try to do da Skype-thang!
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I expect a Skype-thang could happen before the end of Decemberl 🙂
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That would be wunderbar!
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All of these are just stunning, Sarah. The wind here is screaming along as I read the last one, making it particularly powerful just now!
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Thank you, Sunshine 🙂 Yes, we’ve had a lot of screaming winds on the UK’s south coast, but fortunately none of the snow that hit the rest of the country. Today, it is really sunny and still, and I had to wear my big sunglasses when taking a walk earlier. Yesterday, it was bright but incredibly slippery underfoot and quite frightening. My walk lasted 5 minutes.
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There’s some fabulous imagery in these Sarah, and they run the whole gamut of emotions from the excitement and excess of Christmas, to the wildness of nature and the sadness of the end of the holiday.
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Thank you, Andrea. I’m not that excited about Christmas, which means that I’m not sad when it is over! It’s okay, but all the materialistic side of it gets to me, and the rising of tensions I see amongst people in their attempts to create a “perfect” day is exhausting, so I distance myself from it. I’m looking at the trees and the birds instead. The lovely tawny owl has been very vocal in the woods near me and is always to be heard at night in December 🙂
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Love your poems, especially the one about the Christmas Tree. It is always sad to see them stripped of their ornaments. Once almost worshiped, a nuisance today.
Wishing you a happy 2018! ❤
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Thank you, Inese. I’m so glad you love my poems 🙂 I never have a Christmas tree, as there isn’t anywhere to put one in my house. Instead, I put holly and robin ornaments in my fireplace. They look very pretty.
Wishing you a happy 2018, too xx
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Thank you! xx
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