Winter has finally arrived in Wellington, right as the Winter Solstice passes by. For the first time this year Southerlies have kept me awake at night, rattling our sash windows and slamming into the wall behind my head as I lie in bed. Perhaps it's just a reflection of my higher awareness of the environment around me at the moment, but I seem to be reacting to the cold more this year. Although I love it when snow falls to the East, the plummeting temperatures have made cement of my bones.
Winter Solstice 2007
This house is so cold today
it freezes us in place.
Winds blowing from the
Strait fly up the ridge
from Berhampore and
infiltrate the lounge
through cracks in
Matai floorboards.
We stuff the chimney
with shopping bags filled with
balled up newspaper but the
central heating battling
valiantly through corner
vents can not dent the chill
tonight as snow gathers
on the Orongarongas.
I would do so many things,
compose symphonies,
dance a tango with you
down the hallway if
I could only coax these
chilled bones from the
sofa. Instead I loiter,
offer myself as some
small heat source to
short-haired, thin-blooded
Burmese cats, and
dream of summer.
This house is so cold today
it freezes us in place.
Winds blowing from the
Strait fly up the ridge
from Berhampore and
infiltrate the lounge
through cracks in
Matai floorboards.
We stuff the chimney
with shopping bags filled with
balled up newspaper but the
central heating battling
valiantly through corner
vents can not dent the chill
tonight as snow gathers
on the Orongarongas.
I would do so many things,
compose symphonies,
dance a tango with you
down the hallway if
I could only coax these
chilled bones from the
sofa. Instead I loiter,
offer myself as some
small heat source to
short-haired, thin-blooded
Burmese cats, and
dream of summer.
5 comments:
I dream of winter where I come from:)
Loved your poem... world is a fascinating place -- you're entering winter, we've just begun summer.
Lovely. Nice that you make a place here and on your lap for the cats.
This made me think of a couple winters ago when we had to duct tape our drafty chimney to keep it from sucking all the heat up the flu... I could feel how cold you were!
I'm from Michigan and love winter so I liked the poem very much. Winter is only fun though if you're warm inside your house - maybe some good hot chocolate and better insulation! :) L
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