My celebration 

may end in a hospital 

(I'd prefer a bar)

 A dull light like

weak tea seeps in and teases

on this dreary day

Count down the hours

or count your blessings but not 

your unhatched chickens 

The window was both

refuge and adversary, 

betwixt birth and end

Crush your crutches and 

smash those idols so you can

finally be free 

The fog rolls in like

rushing sea waves dusting all

in dewy grayness 

Paper littering 

the floor and Christmas lights on

the blink means it's done 

I sing of hazards  

this holiday — mistletoe 

poisons, holly pricks 

You impatient ones

heed Orpheus's mournful 

tale or lose your love 

Perhaps like Santa 

I'll focus on the jolly 

and not on the scale

Bathed in golden light

the winter tree waits for its 

chance for renewal 

In fallow fields we

walk amid the withered brown

relics of summer 

We wish each other 

good tidings but once a year 

when the sun is low  

The thesaurus may

gainsay, but the synonym 

for you is me, friend. 

Sometimes the stars can

overawe but then I look 

inward and perceive 

 

Stash nuts for a hard 

winter or starve until spring

the squirrel warned me 

Bridges burn while you

play your smoldering fiddle 

and avoid the ash

Over my morning 

coffee I find myself in

mourning for the lost  

Cascading thoughts like

Angel Falls on the Churún 

River rush onward

Books spill out from all

corners of the room and each 

a small miracle 

The dusty vinyl

record contained within an 

unknown world of bliss

The empty boat floats

amid the river like a 

lost lamb so forlorn 

He thumped me on the

shoulder in the closest thing

to a blessing yet 

The old lion may

have some missing teeth but be

warned: he's still deadly. 

Strip life to the bone

and rebuild it to suit your 

needs while you still can 

The old man's words I 

only half listened to now

 resonate within. 

The night comes quickly 

now, like a soft-footed thief

to steal all my time.  

Paradigms shift and

the earth shakes but you perceive 

the world as unchanged 

Twinkling lights evoke

a season of cheer and fire 

distant memories 

Woebegone and worse

as the winter set in and

the world lay fallow  

Between the slits of

my eyes and the slats of the 

blinds the day began