Wednesday, March 17, 2010

late winter wind


crow tales
are being sung

~

the wind is dancing
with
silver-blue ribbons
clenched in its teeth

i can hear its
cold fingers
sliding across
the walls

searching
for an opening

a door not entirely closed

a window left slightly open

a place to enter
and wrap itself around
the honey-coloured
flame tongue
of warmth
that swirls
in soft arabesques
around me

32 comments:

Dan Gurney said...

Lovely photos... the black and white accentuate the coldness. Here in California we're at the peak of springtime...everything's blooming!

Delwyn said...

Hi Steven

I could feel the wind's sneaky tendrils as I read your post...
Won't it warm up soon?

Happy days

Elisabeth said...

Fly away winter, come in sun. Thanks Steven, for the gorgeous photos and resonant words.

Acornmoon said...

I like your lines "in soft arabesques around me"

I am so pleased that it has stopped snowing at last.

Caroline Gill said...

An evocative post, Steven. I am beginning to feel cold! Actually, your last picture is not unlike the scene I am looking out on - except that there are not so many interesting shades of grey here.

However, I am dreaming of spring - hoping in a Narnia kind of way - that it will really come soon. So far there are a number of little signs.

You might care to read my spring puffin poem here... (the link gives access to all others in the contest). More details of the Spring Fever competition can be found here. Polls close on 21st.

Pauline said...

pure, lovely poetry!

Jenny Stevning said...

I love those photos.
"crow tales
are being sung"
I adore this line.

steven said...

thankyou dan. my wife is staying in palm springs as i write. i understand that in between the earthquakes, the weather is mighty fine. here it is approaching fine. the nighttime temperatures are still below zero so there is ice where there might otherwise be water. but during the day it is warming up nicely. have a peaceful day. steven

steven said...

yes it will warm up soon delwyn - for this week it'll warm up and then we're expecting snow again next week. it's hard for people in the warmer climes to really understand just how long "winter" is in the north. my swimming pool is still covered with a thick sheet of ice!! steven

steven said...

thankyou elisabeth - i'm glad you liked the photographs and words. i really enjoyed writing them - almost as if i'm trying to let them go. it is warming up - slowly but surely. have a lovely day. steven

steven said...

acornmoon - everytime i watched the snow falling on my blog and the little bar at the bottom twitching i thought of you!!!!! have a lovely cheshire day. steven

steven said...

hello caroline - there are signs!!! yes there are signs here also. i'd say another three or four weeks and we'll see spring in full force here. thanks for the link to the spring fever contest by the way. steven

steven said...

hi pauline thankyou very much. i played with those words for a few hours off and on. i am glad you liked them. steven

steven said...

jenny on my way out for work or just for a walk, the crows talk and tell stories or just say hi. that's right. so i try and write down what they know. have a lovely day. steven

Reya Mellicker said...

Wow. That's beautiful. Winter is the time of the crow, isn't it? Never thought about that before. Thanks, Steven!

steven said...

thanks reya. there have been mornings when the crows would follow me on my walk and talk to me the whole time. i shared a story about one morning a while back when two crows stared into each others eyes. when the spring weather starts to return there seem to be even more of them. i don't mind them at all. thanks for visiting. steven

ellen abbott said...

that last photograph is most excellent.

Dave King said...

Lovely writing - and the images are superb, especially the first. Clever of you o see that shot.

Meri said...

That wind found its way into my kitchen two days ago through a door that pretended to be fully latched and pushed the warmth out with its frigid ferocity. I knew before I got to the door that there was an invader, as it was unaccountably chill.

Val said...

thats so beautiful! i love the wind and the warmth and those stark photographs. thank you

Lisa Ursu said...

incredible post Steve.

the wind is searching here today with gusts up to 40km/h.
it seems Spring is blowing into town!

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Love the black and white steven - and that lone crow. There is a bit too much crow talk going on around here these days. I try so hard to make room for it all but their crys are like fingernails on a chalkboard - grating! Oh my, another opportunity to practice accepting what is . . .

steven said...

ellen thankyou!!! steven

steven said...

golden west - warm and sunny and dry would be lovelier but it is what it is so i love it for what it is! steven

steven said...

dave i love the crows. they used to bother me and then around two and a half years ago they became more like nature's informants. more about that another time. steven

steven said...

meri the front door of this house changes shape when it's cold outside and requires a really firm push to really shut it. otherwise a slight wind will push it open compelling me to welcome whomever it is might be wishing to use that opportunity to enter. have a peaceful evening. steven

steven said...

val you came a very long way to say that! thankyou for visiting. steven

steven said...

liza thankyou for your post blitz and for all the kind thoughtful and generous comments you left! have a peaceful evening. steven

steven said...

bonnie they used to drive me nuts when they would gather in the trees and squawk at each other but they are so intelligent and i know they are talkign about what they see and often what i can't see. so i listen with more care. they make me laugh sometimes!!! have a lovely evening. steven

* said...

Breathtaking poem. Is this one published yet?

Joan Tucker said...

Love this poem; I also have crows with me all the time..
A wild patience-- Joan T

steven said...

hello joan - i very like that - a wild patience - wonderful!!! thankyou for visiting! steven