Song for December

Winter is firelight,

Flickering madly

Over the mantel and onto the floor;

Winter is listening –

Listening gladly –

For bells in the distance and hands on the door.

Winter is music,

All music and silence –

The hush of the snow and the song of the trees;

Winter is wind,

With its casual violence –

The roar in the chimney, the house on its knees.

And winter is wonder,

A time for a child,

A season of innocence, new or new-found;

Winter is tender,

And winter is wild,

And waking, one morning, to snow on the ground.