The Breath of Winter

I feel the breath of winter
through the evening air,
ever so slightly hinting
of days soon crisp and fair.

Zephyrs sweep scudding clouds,
whipping waves in their haste.
They soar across the moonlit skies
in desperate, maddening chase.

With ghostlike chilling tendrils
winter reaches out to tease.
A taste of frost hangs in the air
and laces through each breeze.

Racing through the cloak of night
impish winds swathe the land
ringing bells of tinkling ice
with playful, elfin hands.

Quaint folk at quiet rest
Snug in layered down.
Such peace reigns o’re the sight
of a winter covered town.

Rising to a golden dawn,
I gaze on first-light’s sheen.
Winter came late last night
and left a wondrous scene.

Sunbeams prism through the glass
of branches gleaming crystal.
Daylight pours diamond white
on valleys cold and fragile.

Flooded by the morning light
twining vines wake and shiver.
Snowflakes fall like lazy stars
floating on the breath of winter.


Winter 1999