Winter

[Hawkman]

Winter should be a wolf with sapphire eyes
and lolling salmon tongue, whose jaws of ice
leak breath-steam into blizzard air; his guise
and countenance, divine; his bite a vice
which wrings out warmth from sleeping fields beneath
their virgin gown of snow; his voice, the wind
that scours the land and echoes over heath,
reverberant with grief, as if he'd sinned.
Winter should be a wolf, but here it's not.
It's just an ageing, fat, wet labrador
with troubled bowels, who cherishes his cot
and comes in leaving puddles on the floor.
This sorry season whines and sniffs your feet
and hopes you might have something it can eat.

[Snowqueen]

Hi Hawk! It's very strong but fearsome imagery of winter. The Tyger immediately came to mind as I started reading your poem; the theme and style are quite different though. I enjoyed it and I have to admit with a heavy heart that it is a lot better than Autumn Trees!

[Hawkman]

Hello Snowqueen :) I think tygers (or even tigers for that matter ;)) are definitely synonymous with summer! Oh, and of course, autumn trees are for autumn, and have their own particular beauty ;)

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

Live and be well - H

[osho]

I like your poem just because it is full of nature- images and this is simple but delves into profundity. Your poem is different from the rest of us in that you can transport us into a different realm but with wonderful metaphors and it seems metaphors speak for you.

[Hawkman]

Thanks osho, glad you enjoyed it.

[DieterM]

Great imagery, Hawkie, and wich definitely rings a bell in my heart! Being back to Austria with its childhood memories of snowy xmas days and current November moods and weather at its best, I can but say: you use those words I feel but lack. Wishing you a great holiday season, don't molest the turkey, old friend ;)

[Hawkman]

Thanks Dieter. I blame the gulf stream lol. Enjoy your sojourn in Austria; rest assured that I'll not be molesting any turkeys. I'll be dining on my brother's, so I hope he'll have washed his hands, or any other appropriate portion of his anatomy required for stuffing or undressing it! :D have a good Christmas.

Live and be well - H

[Haunted]

Amazing animal imageries. Winter as ferocious as a wolf is a poem in itself but you didn't stop there. Instead you treated us with your usual sense of humor, portraying the "real" winter as being just lame. Superbly done Hawk. This sets it apart from any other winter poems I've read. By the way we have a blizzard warning for tomorrow. So looks the wolf is heading my way….