With the creaking of dead wood,
the forest speaks harsh tones
while wild winds BLOW;
making whistling, whistling,
whistling screechy whispers;
shifting shadows in the trees.
Then it slowly stalks its prey…
Crunch, crunch, crunch
goes each solitary steady step,
into drifts of freshly fallen
flakes all unique, yet mound
and towered high stately piles
which obscure, ruin my view
drifts of snow in frozen earth.
Its growl invades the earth…
Stiff, so stiff the landscape
of glistening white swallowed
whole in blustery weather waiting,
waiting for noonday sun to raise
digits of zero or above; crippled
fingers rest in empty birds nest.
It wildly shakes its mane…
It’s in other things I find my rest,
where warmth fills frigid places.
There the sun streams soundly
in delicate, frosty window pane;
and filters across the written Word
which thaws the cold,cold heart.
It is He who brings about new earth!
P. Wolf, poet & author of Jemi’s Noble Quest
“ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.”
Revelations 21:1
Patti Wolf 
Death has no time. Winter reinforces that. And then rebirth…also timeless. (K)
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The cold white landscape warms through each stanza, to the closing stanza with warmth filling the frigid places.
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Sherry, the birds are longing for sunny 4 degree weather which we had this morning. Their song so clear in the dead of winter. They bring a special warmth to the heart.
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Wonderfully evocative use of sounds and repetition, Patricia, especially ‘whistling, whistling, whistling screechy whispers’ and ‘Stiff, so stiff the landscape of glistening white swallowed whole in blustery weather waiting’! I love the idea of winter stalking its prey’. After such chilly imagery I was grateful for a little warmth filling frigid places.
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Oh Kim, it’s so cold in Wisconsin. Wind chill factor of -11 this morning and that’s warm. It’s been in the -20’s for days. Wind chill makes the cold so penetrating, yet my dog still needs to go out with boots and jacket of course. My walks stirred all those sounds!
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I love all the “c” and “ch” sounds – so redolent of ice.
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That was the chattering of my teeth!🤣
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🤭🤭🤭
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Such cold seems set to last forever, but it doesn’t. The sun always comes back. Lovely wintry imagery.
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The sun is the only thing making this cold possible to endure. But Truro looking forward to spring.
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I hope it ends soon for you!
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Good job Patti — winter landscapes (especially in the brutal aftermath of the past week’s big storm in the US) provide as complete a picture of a dead earth to the senses. Spring is resurrection and is the Christ — we live in penumbra of that hope, for sure. Well done.
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Even our bodies seem to creak. I’m thankful for a working furnace!
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The repetition is very powerful here, emphasizing the deadness and the cold. For sure, some kind of new world is coming, but how it will look is anybody’s guess.
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Very cold winters are good for Wisconsin apple trees, but VERY bad for our cars.
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I can imagine 🥶
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