A Harsh Melody

WINTER’S SONG

Like a crazed banshee, the bitter wind moaned,
while snow coated limbs until the trees groaned,
branches thrashed windows in cacophony —
a harsh melody that winter intoned.

9/8/94 Phyllis DeWitt VanVleck

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A Harsh melody

             WINTER’S SONG

 

Like a crazed banshee, the bitter wind moaned,

while snow coated limbs until the trees groaned,

          branches thrashed windows in cacophony —

a harsh melody that winter intoned.

 

9/8/94                        Phyllis DeWitt VanVleck

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Ermine beauty is everywhere

NATURE’S FICKLE GAME

It seemed the wind had little
mercy, and in its bitterness
it howled and moaned like a crazed
banshee; twisting and tearing
at the trees until it ripped limbs
from their sockets, tossing
them to the frozen ground;
Then in a sudden mood change,
from tantrum to passivity,
the wind ceased, replaced
by a heavy silent snowfall.

Dawn’s first thin finger of light
illuminated the night’s destruction,
now mantled with sugar-white
drop-cloths. Tree limbs are bending
their backs under the weight
of their new white coats.
Leaves that had refused
to release their desperate hold,
now shiver as they shove noses
from beneath frosty blankets.
Last night’s fallen limbs
poke antlers through
the drifting mounds that built
around their broken bones.
Ermine beauty is everywhere
I look, and it will remain
so, until the sun, joining
in the game, smiles as it starts
its usual melt-down,
in a warm wet strip-tease.
Nature’s fickle game.

2/8/92 Phyllis DeWitt-VanVleck

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Another wintery Haiku

              HAIKU

 

 

Icy wanton winds

 

     spanking the last stubborn leaves

 

          to loosen their grip

 

 

3/14/90              Phyllis VanVleck

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What does January do?

JANUARY’S NIGHTMARES

 

January shares her nightmares,

so the clouds sometimes weep

in her long winter sleep.

She torments everything she dares,

with crystal sleet and snows,

as her cruel north wind blows,

with frost etchings that winter wears..

                                               

9/3//01      Phyllis DeWitt-VanVleck

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That time of year again

            WINTER

 

Fierce wind is harsh upon the land . . . .

new snow is cold and deep,

the willows sway and weep.

September’s passed the torch, as planned . . . .

frost atop frozen ground,

as earth sleeps without sound,

for winter now assumes command.

 

9/9/04         Phyllis DeWitt-VanVleck

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Relentless howling storm

NATURE’S GAME OF TEASE

 

It started with relentless wind

Which built to howl and moan

As bushes thrashed in cold protest

Old buildings seemed to groan

Like crazed banshees, the wind then screamed

And twisted tree limbs ’round

Until they tore from sockets

And were thrown upon the ground

 

But dawn saw winds losing strength

And finally they would cease

Replaced by steady fall of snow

To blanket last night’s freeze

The change brought awesome quiet

And a scene painted white

Like huge drop-cloths thrown upon

Destruction of the night

 

And last night’s fallen tree limbs

Poked antlers through the mounds

That built around their broken bones

And muffled all the sounds

From giant tree to lowly bush

Each limb now bent its back

So laden by their new white coats

One feared their spines might crack

 

And here and there desperate leaves

That had refused to drop

Poked noses from white blankets

And wished the snow would stop

But I saw beauty everywhere

Though transient it may be

For soon the sun would join the game

And a melt-down’s what I’d see

 

But they’ll return with timeless games

(The sun, the snow, the breeze)

And mock us with their fickleness

In nature’s game of tease

 

 

12/18/92        Phyllis DeWitt VanVleck

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