—Poetry by Kimberly Bolton, Jefferson City, MO
—Public Domain Photos
SETTLING IN
The hummingbirds flew the coop last October,
Off to find their winter home in the south.
Brown leaves fold into the ground and get ready for the cold to come.
All the small creatures I’m so used to seeing in the spring and summer,
The rabbits, the squirrels, the occasional groundhog,
Are all tucked away somewhere in the woods,
Settled into their winter nests, and dens, and lairs.
Here in the house, we’ve turned the furnace on at last,
As the temperature waited until just before Christmas to drop
To below forty degrees.
I’ve stripped the thin summer blanket from the bed,
Brought out the heavy winter quilts my grandmother so patiently
Pieced together back during the Depression,
All laundered and scented with lavender.
The smaller quilt I keep folded over the back of my chair,
Next to the window in the living room,
A stack of books on the floor next to it.
Here is where I will spend the winter months,
Nested in my favorite chair, wrapped in my quilt,
A book open on my lap, and a cup of hot cocoa at my elbow.
Every now and then, I’ll glance up from a page
To watch the first snow of winter settling in.
The hummingbirds flew the coop last October,
Off to find their winter home in the south.
Brown leaves fold into the ground and get ready for the cold to come.
All the small creatures I’m so used to seeing in the spring and summer,
The rabbits, the squirrels, the occasional groundhog,
Are all tucked away somewhere in the woods,
Settled into their winter nests, and dens, and lairs.
Here in the house, we’ve turned the furnace on at last,
As the temperature waited until just before Christmas to drop
To below forty degrees.
I’ve stripped the thin summer blanket from the bed,
Brought out the heavy winter quilts my grandmother so patiently
Pieced together back during the Depression,
All laundered and scented with lavender.
The smaller quilt I keep folded over the back of my chair,
Next to the window in the living room,
A stack of books on the floor next to it.
Here is where I will spend the winter months,
Nested in my favorite chair, wrapped in my quilt,
A book open on my lap, and a cup of hot cocoa at my elbow.
Every now and then, I’ll glance up from a page
To watch the first snow of winter settling in.
SIMPLE NEEDFUL THINGS
Spring seems to be everyone’s favorite season
After shivering through the bone-chilling winter.
But give me the late autumn,
The season of slow light and the pace of life slowing to a near standstill,
As it slips reluctantly to the edge of winter.
I want a sky dark and gray with a cold rain thrumming on the roof,
The crackle of a fire in the hearth,
With soup simmering on the stove in the kitchen.
I want to listen for the back door to open, then close,
As you come into the house, stamping your boots,
Vigorously rubbing your hands together,
And exclaiming to me what I already know, “It’s cold outside!”
Emphasis on the word cold.
Later, we’ll snuggle together under the blankets
We’ve piled on top of us,
Listening to that special kind of quiet as the rain
becomes snow in the middle of the night,
As if the stars are all aquiver with the joy of the season,
And freeing the soft, star-shaped flakes they’ve been hoarding
All year.
Without complaint, you let me put my cold feet on you to keep them warm,
Making me smile in my sleep.
Such simple, needful things these: a warm fire, hot soup, the sound of you
Coming through the door, thick blankets, and a night whispering
With stars and snow.
_____________________
Today’s LittleNip:
A POEM
—Kimberly Bolton
Come here and snuggle beneath this quilt with me,
This quilt of a poem,
In this comfortable cushy chair with room enough for
The both of us,
This comfortable cushy poem of a chair.
Let’s watch out the window as the last bit of rain
Turns magically into snowflakes,
These magical snowflakes that fall silently into
A poem.
_____________________
Thank you, Kimberly Bolton, for your cozy snow poems from Jefferson City, Missouri!
Today in our area, David Anderson of Lincoln Poets Club invites you to an online open mic at 3pm on Zoom at us02web.zoom.us/j/81669036074 (Meeting ID: 816 6903 6074; Passcode: 337231).
_____________________
—Medusa
Spring seems to be everyone’s favorite season
After shivering through the bone-chilling winter.
But give me the late autumn,
The season of slow light and the pace of life slowing to a near standstill,
As it slips reluctantly to the edge of winter.
I want a sky dark and gray with a cold rain thrumming on the roof,
The crackle of a fire in the hearth,
With soup simmering on the stove in the kitchen.
I want to listen for the back door to open, then close,
As you come into the house, stamping your boots,
Vigorously rubbing your hands together,
And exclaiming to me what I already know, “It’s cold outside!”
Emphasis on the word cold.
Later, we’ll snuggle together under the blankets
We’ve piled on top of us,
Listening to that special kind of quiet as the rain
becomes snow in the middle of the night,
As if the stars are all aquiver with the joy of the season,
And freeing the soft, star-shaped flakes they’ve been hoarding
All year.
Without complaint, you let me put my cold feet on you to keep them warm,
Making me smile in my sleep.
Such simple, needful things these: a warm fire, hot soup, the sound of you
Coming through the door, thick blankets, and a night whispering
With stars and snow.
_____________________
Today’s LittleNip:
A POEM
—Kimberly Bolton
Come here and snuggle beneath this quilt with me,
This quilt of a poem,
In this comfortable cushy chair with room enough for
The both of us,
This comfortable cushy poem of a chair.
Let’s watch out the window as the last bit of rain
Turns magically into snowflakes,
These magical snowflakes that fall silently into
A poem.
_____________________
Thank you, Kimberly Bolton, for your cozy snow poems from Jefferson City, Missouri!
Today in our area, David Anderson of Lincoln Poets Club invites you to an online open mic at 3pm on Zoom at us02web.zoom.us/j/81669036074 (Meeting ID: 816 6903 6074; Passcode: 337231).
_____________________
—Medusa
Photos in this column can be enlarged by
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.
Would you like to be a SnakePal?
All you have to do is send poetry and/or
photos and artwork to
kathykieth@hotmail.com. We post
work from all over the world, including
that which was previously-published.
Just remember:
the snakes of Medusa are always hungry—
for poetry, of course!
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.
Would you like to be a SnakePal?
All you have to do is send poetry and/or
photos and artwork to
kathykieth@hotmail.com. We post
work from all over the world, including
that which was previously-published.
Just remember:
the snakes of Medusa are always hungry—
for poetry, of course!
