Well groomed Lady Earth slips into her polar fur

Ice crystals stud her lobes and slender neck

Nouveau snow powders her flawless

When maple, oak and birch stand
in stoic silence,
never sleeping, witnessing a new, white world -
then is the Hearth Time,

WINTER

Warmed by the fireplace

I study delicate crystals of ice on the pane.

New patterns appear

Telling me it's only begun.

Winds on the warpath, stirring no leaves;

Ice, encircling branches like sleeves;

Nor wind nor ice tells all the story -

White snow blankets the earth

Icicles form pointed shapes

Night time arrives early

Trees hibernate from the cold

Elderly