Tag: Winter 2021

Merry Christmas | Peter Matthews

December 23, 2021

Misty morning clothed in snow

Huddled up with miles to go

Checking sheep out on the moors

Leaving family safe indoors

Man and dog go striding forth

West, then South, then East, then North

Every compass point between

Making sure all sheep are seen

A shepherd’s work is never done

Merry Christmas everyone!

Peter Matthews, a country boy at heart, lives with his wife in the suburbs of Nottingham, England.  His greatest achievement is that he has aged fairly gracefully but has avoided growing up.  Peter has written poetry from the age of sixteen and blogs regularly at www.pollymermaid.wordpress.com.

Winter Begins | Bartholomew Barker

December 22, 2021

We’re all in trouble if the Sun
keeps sinking earlier and rising later

No thaw in the Earth— no planting in spring
no harvest in autumn just a night with no dawn

Snow piles higher— rivers freeze to their beds
and the atmosphere shivers solid

Leaving our icicles around the final embers
of the fire we lit tonight to entice the prodigal sun

Back to the sky

Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, a collection of poets in North Carolina. Born and raised in Ohio, studied in Chicago, he worked in Connecticut for nearly twenty years before moving to Hillsborough where he makes money as a computer programmer to fund his poetry habit. www.bartbarkerpoet.com

Selected by the editor as a featured submission, December 2022

her sole hope | Yuu Ikeda

December 21, 2021

In a cocoon of winter,

she is breathing in

shadows of winter

and breathing out words for someone

like her who lives in the coldest winter.

Her sole hope is that

shapes of words warm someone

and herself,

to wait for spring hopefully.

Yuu Ikeda is a Japan based poet.
She writes poetry on her website.
https://poetryandcoffeedays.wordpress.com/
Her published poems can be found
in <Nymphs>,
<Selcouth Station Press>,
<Goat’s Milk Magazine>,
<Sad Girl Review>,
and more.
Her Instagram :
@yuunnnn77

Winter Days | Jaya Avendel

December 20, 2021

Sun as though the moon

Lone sliver of light dances

A palette in greys. 

Jaya Avendel is a micro-poetess and word witch from the Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia, passionate about life where it intersects with writing and the dreamscapes lost in between. With writing published widely online and in print anthologies detailing everything from women’s empowerment to climate change, she writes at www.ninchronicles.com.

Selected by the editor as a featured submission, November 2022

Mistaken identity | Peter Matthews

December 17, 2021

Fast asleep then wide awake

Dare I peep or should I fake

Is that Santa I can hear

Breathing softly, very near

Someone’s whispering I am sure

Over there just by my door

Gently ease the duvet back

Open eyelids just a crack

If it was Santa I’d be glad

but no it’s just my Mum and Dad!

Peter Matthews, a country boy at heart, lives with his wife in the suburbs of Nottingham, England.  His greatest achievement is that he has aged fairly gracefully but has avoided growing up.  Peter has written poetry from the age of sixteen and blogs regularly at www.pollymermaid.wordpress.com.

The cold call | Britta Benson

December 16, 2021

The cold call of winter enters lightly through a gap in the window,

throws a sudden chill on old skin trapped in solitary confinement.

White walls and sterile floors reflect years, hopes and dreams,

their echo a faint murmur in slowly freezing hearts of gold.

Stories told long ago hang like snowflakes in thin air,

to dance with the dead, the lost, the never again.

Time stands still once more, almost north.

The front door too far to reach.

Cool blue light from a phone

a beacon of warmth,

true connection

to the south.

Britta Benson is a happiness & poetry blogging, circus skills instructing German, a writer, performer and linguist thriving in Scotland, her chosen habitat since the year 2000. She runs a creative writing group and writes a daily blog, Britta’s Blog – Letters from Scotland brittasblog422041504.wordpress.com as well as the poetry blog, Odds & Ends oddsends707138946.wordpress.com. She also stares out of her window a lot and drinks far too much tea.

Selected by the editor as a featured submission, July 2022

A White Rose | Yuu Ikeda

December 15, 2021

A white rose blooms

on the canvas of winter morning,

every time I sigh.

The rose is always gazing at the future

that new warmth will bloom

instead of the rose.

I’m also gazing at the future

that cruel coldness will continue

to pierce my skin.

Yuu Ikeda is a Japan based poet.
She writes poetry on her website.
https://poetryandcoffeedays.wordpress.com/
Her published poems can be found
in <Nymphs>,
<Selcouth Station Press>,
<Goat’s Milk Magazine>,
<Sad Girl Review>,
and more.
Her Instagram :
@yuunnnn77

Snowfall | Jaya Avendel

December 14, 2021

Stars tumble silver

Orchestrated music woos

My perfume silk heart.

Jaya Avendel is a micro-poetess and word witch from the Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia, passionate about life where it intersects with writing and the dreamscapes lost in between. With writing published widely online and in print anthologies detailing everything from women’s empowerment to climate change, she writes at www.ninchronicles.com.

Christmas stocking | Peter Matthews

December 13, 2021

Susie squirrel’s stocked her larder

Finding food is getting harder

Little ones and Dad to cater

Hoping stocks don’t dwindle later

Every year it’s left to her

When it’s cold Dad’s loathe to stir

But in their drey they’re warm and cosy

Little kits think life is rosey

Actually, this isn’t true

‘cause this ain’t what the squirrels do!

.

(Squirrels have a litter of 2-4 babies, called kits or kittens, normally in February or March.  Older female squirrels may produce a second litter in August. The babies will leave the nest at three months of age.)

Peter Matthews, a country boy at heart, lives with his wife in the suburbs of Nottingham, England.  His greatest achievement is that he has aged fairly gracefully but has avoided growing up.  Peter has written poetry from the age of sixteen and blogs regularly at www.pollymermaid.wordpress.com.