Still too cold in the winter

Concluding the Jemverse Winter 22 series ‘Brittle Days’ [10 of 10]

Neglected in winter
gets quite overgrown
Too cold to sit out there
grass stays unmown
Trees shed their leaves
and they fall to the ground
and because I’m not out there
they just lie around
And I know that I should
and one day I will
Just not today thank you
‘Cos I can’t stand the chill

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Back to January’s Shivering Smile

9 of 10 in the Jemverse Winter 22 series ‘Brittle Days’

Tangible this winter chill
In January’s raw intent
As beneath these spectred morning veils
the silent mist is sent

Intrusive to beleaguered calm
Whispers like a shout
I’m a stranger in an iron-clad still
with no one else about

Yet frigid though the air might be
January serves to bring
A shivering smile through chattering teeth
that it will soon be Spring

Thinking of summer when cold (reprise)

8 of 10 in the Jemverse Winter 22 series ‘Brittle Days’

When it’s cold in the winter
I will look to the sun
and think back to the summer
as I have always done
Back to the days
of whimsy and breeze
when a cool wisp is welcome
rustling quiet through the leaves

Adur valley beauty revisited

7 of 10 in the Jemverse Winter 22 series ‘Brittle Days’

Today the river mirrors
The pale blue of the sky
As whitened Sussex fields
In frosted splendour lie

Lancing college chapel
Proud as always on the hill
Overlooks the Adur valley
Quiet and beautifully still

And as I gaze upon this vista
Briefly from the train
I am reminded that I live here
And a smile returns again

Like a whisper…again

5 of 10 in the Jemverse winter 22 series ‘Brittle Days’

Icing sugar on the road
a dusting overnight
the sun glow in the eastern sky
still a glorious sight

Cold there is no doubt of that
minus six and falling
but the crystal air is lovely
on this chilly winter morning

Back to wonderment

4 of 10 in the Jemverse Winter 22 series ‘Brittle Days’

Cloudy breath and crystal-coated
Water pools beneath my feet
Jumpers, hats and scarves and gloves
And other things keep in the heat

Marvelling at this white-clad wonder
Sunglare glinting through the trees
Everywhere a special moment
Captured by this winter freeze

Cold again

3 of 10 in the Jemverse Winter 22 series ‘Brittle Days’

Long shadows on a blanket, white
Laid silent from a still, clear night
Harsh lying in the morning light
Cold against my brow

Iced fingers on a shimmering morn
Crystals on the covered lawn
Stark reminder, chilling born
The winter with me now

White…again

2 of 10 in the Jemverse Winter 22 series ‘Brittle Days’

In white there’s essence of the new
January starts the year afresh
As we from hibernation
awaken from our winter rest

In white there’s hope and promise
Galanthus for a New Year’s day
Echoed in these few short lines
Capture all I have to say

Back to first frost

1 of 10 in the Jemverse Winter 22 series ‘Brittle Days’

Sunshine like water, diluted and pale
Greets me on this cold winter’s day
Bereft of its warmth, there’s a sadness there
Its exuberance fading away

Yet in the long shadows of the first morning frost
Its magic remains in clear view
A glistening white vista across Sussex fields
Ice diamonds replace summer dew