Winter the Rarity Autumn S. DeMartino
I can appreciate the sprightly season of Summer, Its fleet-footed gait, its flighty youthfulness. Summer is all fluorescence and momentary happenings Like vocal tropical birds flitting amid tangled jungle canopies. Yet, while I say I can appreciate Summer, I cannot relate to it. Rather, I have given my soul over to That ancient and reserved season of Winter. Winter is not all sharp frosts and bleakness; it is great age And wisdom, like wizards, if one only pauses to see such. Winter’s unconventional beauty dwells in the blue-shadowed silences Of majestic evergreen woods. It is felt when you walk in solitude ’cross hillsides robed in silver snow. It brings a peace no other season can match When on violet wings twilight ushers out the brief hours of sunlight To make way for night skies of sapphire velvet. “Is Winter not cold and lonely?” cry Summer’s whimsical lovers. Those who long for constant sun And fear shadows may think such, But Old Mystic Winter harbors companions, If you only take the time to know them. Look up to a night sky more infinite than forever, More clear than diamond or crystal, And see Winter’s brilliant host of stellar companions. Perhaps you’ve heard of some, the infamous hunter Orion, glittery Pleiades and their sisters Hyades? Winter is only a time for darkness and fear If you make it such. Can you not hear the joy in the song of The snow-scented wind? Does the brisk air not awaken your mind To a deeper knowledge, an appreciation For the over-looked and undervalued? And how can the season of Christmas be bitter? Candy-bright trinkets and blinking lights, Cinnamon fires and familiar songs, And the laughter of those we love Call back golden memories that sweeten sorrows. So I ask that you be not hasty in calling Winter unwelcomed. My hope is that you at least come to appreciate it If you cannot bring yourself to understand it.
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Cari Leary: City Reflections