White Winters

I used to think that winter should be white,

Its icy armor wrapped in snowy coat –

The reign of cold in all its freezing might.

When moonlit snowflakes glistened in the night

And screeched beneath my boots on empty road,

Of course, I thought that winter should be white.

It always came on time and, full of spite,

With steely hands it grasped at Nature’s throat –

The reign of cold in all its freezing might.

Today my winter cries with grim delight,

And rainy clouds above me glumly float…

I used to think that winters should be white.

When rains get tired, they promptly lose the fight

To desert winds with heavy sandy load,

The reign of heat in all its blazing might.

I still can feel the smell of snow at night,

But now I leave no traces on the road

Where folks assume that winters should be white,

The reign of cold in all its freezing might.

This poem was first published in now extinct Every Day Poets in December, 2011. It is written as a villanelle. There is something magical and hypnotizing about this poetic form. Hopefully a tiny bit of a villanelle's intrinsic magic survives in this particular reincarnation.

Happy New Year!!!

Image Credit: George Chernilevsky, Wikimedia Commons