Winter Days Ignite Poetry

winter poems 2020 Snowy-Day-Lowell-Birge-Harrison-oil-painting

Snowy Day, Oil Painting by Lowell Birge Harrison (https://www.oceansbridge.com/shop/styles/impressionism/snowy-day)

January has unveiled its raw winter-ness. For Seattle, that blast of snowy chill equates to a romanticized sense of wonderland…well, for the writer in me. Maybe because I grew up where wintery-season months matched splendidly with all the storybooks from my childhood…snowfall under lamp posts, icicle-clad roof eaves…and my dad bundled under the warmth of his red flannel shirt, shoveling the drive.

A favorite memory, relived year after year in Eastern Washington, is the mounds of snow that grew like a mountain in our yard. After every plowing of our driveway, fresh snow accumulated in heaps. My sister and I built snowmen, and snow-bunnies, and snow caves big enough to sit in and drink hot chocolate from a thermos. We worked all day creating our masterpieces.

Yet, as much as I can still feel the heat of the cocoa, even the heat of perspiration after all that digging (wearing a full one-piece snowmobile suit), these days I’m not called to any type of snow construction. The warm crackle of the fire lures me, instead, to watch the billowing of soft flakes fall outside my window. There’s something about being nestled in a blanket on the sofa, with my hot coffee and journal in hand, that swirls creativity deep inside.

Here are a few snowy-themed poems (haiku and free verse) I’ve written over the last couple years. I would like to share them with you today. At the bottom, I’ve included a link to more wintery poems from other authors through Poetry Foundation. Hopefully it’s enough to keep you entertained through these chilly weeks ahead. Happy Winter!

Photo taken on a frosty afternoon with my iPhone, CC:)

Silver Day

When silver gray holds wonder

in the quiet grace of the day,

time extends a cloaked hand

to silence the noise,

to still the pull

luring marred souls,

and then

washes them

clean.

By Celaine Charles, January 2020

Photo taken on a frozen night with my iPhone, CC:)

Winter Night

white flags sail

blue canvas sea

snow topped limbs

By Celaine Charles, February 2019

Photo Credit: https://mybeautifulworldblog.com/2014/02/19/birds-braving-winter/

Snowfall

There’s a bird outside my window

trilling at the snowfall,

unhappy in his day.

I wonder why he hollers

but then the world is covered

in white lattice flakes,

accumulated to a point of blinding

glistening flurry, demanding value

of appreciation and applause.

I pause because it’s lovely,

to watch fall through the window;

picking up the pieces is the burden.

This bird knows the truth,

he sings his disapproval, and

I hum along as I shovel the drive.

By Celaine Charles, February 13, 2019

Photo Credit: https://photosafaris.com/Photo-Tours/2020-Tours/Yellowstone-in-Winter

Winter’s Fortune

I’ve been to the top of mountains

under the ivory fall of winter.

A quiet, as clear as rainwater,

you can hear your fortune

whispered between evergreen

arms, embracing the season,

weighed down with snow,

now sentinel statues guarding

a truth you must await,

open-souled, open-mouthed;

head back, baby bird…

swallow every breath.

By Celaine Charles, December 2019

***This poem was inspired by the many mountaintops my family snowmobiled – and all the secrets I swallowed while appreciating the indescribable beauty. Thanks to my folks for making sure I had this experience over and over, over the years as a child. Best life!