Old Man winter

Old Man Winter

Your chilly arrival

Makes me nostalgic

Even as you choke my nostrilled breath

I recall the soothing warmth

Of sun filled days just passed

I concede your artistry

As you suck the lingering life

From a writhing autumn

Fallen flames of dying maple

Tapestried around

I am your recalcitrant serf

Yet your frigid invitation entices me

To wander bundled

Through powdered mounds

Of virgin white

I will survive your icy grip

Slip through your moons of gloom

And emerge crocus like to greet the April orb

You tenaciously veiled so long

I am your reluctant friend

Your stiff necked frozen fondling

Of the earth is but an eerie shadow

Over my yearning for deeper joy

Aslan’s day is coming

Christmas truce forever

The swaddled lion shakes his mane

And you were just the weather

–Clair Jantzen, November 18, 2014