WinterSong, Tracy Ann Johnson [i wanna iguana read aloud txt] 📗

It’s February


They said it was
Winter
The news said it was.
But I could not find the proof of it.
70 degrees with a warm breeze
California is a 1000 miles away and Florida
No closer
Men in shirtsleeves and ladies in flip-flops
Going to the Walmart in shorts and halter tops
Windows thrown high - the air-condition back on
And people still eating outdoors with crossed legs
Swinging back and forth, looking at clouds
Lazily waiting for winter to show
It’s February and no snow, no plough, no scraping
shovels on driveways, no ice on bridges and back streets
Just left over fall and summer days.


Winter is an Interval


The cold air is a mysterious thing
That makes you hide yourself
Inside coats and sweaters and shawls
And secrecy
Introverting a world that just months before
Was colorful and open and welcoming
Without mufflers and gloves
To hold back normal conversations and warm handshakes
Winter is an interval of standing solitary and stoic
Leafless under the bare Sun.

When the Ice Broke

I want to laugh with them. The children.
I want to be free like them. Run and slide on
The Frozen lake
To get lost in that careless joy
Of being unafraid again.
Like when I was ten or twelve and especially thirteen
When the ice broke
And I sank in the freezing chunks
And Mr. Flynn, my favorite teacher,
Saved my life.
I wanted to marry him
Or someone just like him
plain and quiet outside
brave and fearless inside

.

Dreamworld


They made snow angels
And drank hot cocoa and drew frosty faces
On window panes
And listened to Bing Crosby songs
After the ballads of Nat King Cole
It was a perfect evening.
Superb.
Then they blinked their eyes,
turned off the TV and went to bed.
They did not say good night.


The Kiss


His hands warmed my hands

He offered his jacket

He took off my boots that were wet through and through

then kissed me on the tip of my nose

Said he had to go

And disappeared into the snow.


Naked Trees


Naked trees in December light
Are beautiful without the leaves
Concealing perfect frames
express themselves in frozen dance
Shivering slightly in the wind or bowing gracefully
To an Alpine blast
Lovely performers, striking and strong yet delicate
as the sun glistens through cicled branch
And moon-glow rests on silvered trunk.


Ignore


I ignore the cold outside
I refuse to let it in
I’ll be steadfast against the wind
Trembling with a winter chill
Sneaking around my windowsill
Like a lost and wayward child.
My blankets are soft and songs on my radio
Let me know
I am safe if I don’t open the door
Let the spoiled blizzard roar and try to fool me
When it whines
I’ve been warned of its frigid kind
It will come plinking on my window pane
In the guise of heavy snow or icy rain.
A friend in me it will not find.


Someone’s Life


Did you hear?
They found her face down
In late November
Floating in an almost frozen pond
Embalmed in her loveliness
Such a pretty girl
Such a pretty face
Someone’s daughter
Someone’s Wife
Someone’s life.


Frigid Night


Standing on top of a building
And looking down
Shivering in the icy gale
I saw people bustling back and forth
Wondering where they were headed for
As they wove like a never ending serpent
Through the frozen streets
Passing between parked cars, trying to
Escape the frigid night with the sun
Falling quickly behind me
As I stood on top of a building
I could not enter in.


I Suppose


I suppose
Winter has my favorite clothes
Summer and Spring are flimsy things
No sweaters, no chug boots
No red wool jackets that make me feel
That royalty should bow to me
And though I cherish the colors of Fall
Nothing compares to winter wear
no competition exists at all
I think I’m moving to Alaska,
to live in the Tundra
Where winter is a ten-month womb
That gives birth to babies like me
Who do not long for garments worn
in normal April, May or June.


Dragon Outside


Take your time, he said
Take your time.
The dragon was outside
Blowing white dust
Stamping it’s chilly feet
A threatening beast with nothing but time
To watch us
Huddled in the tiny
Restaurant, veering to step outside
To look for a ride,
But none of us refused
To do what the owner told us to
We took our time.


The Fireplace


It was a useless piece of
decoration until
One night, in January
On the last day, celebration
Ended and the guest walked to the door
When snow fell in.
So high it hit our knees
And we turned on the television
That did not come on
And someone read their cell phone
That said “winter warning”
we all looked at the fireplace
That had never been used,
A useless piece of decoration
That made it’s debut
In a house that eventually
uses everything.

Windows, Trees and Doors

On the Birthday of Christ
My favorite thing is the lights
lights that represent, to me,
the brightness of humanity
All shapes and shades of lights that cover
windows, trees, and doors
of houses and expensive stores
money spent, money lent to buy
gifts amid the neon light
we missed the Gift
and Light of Lights
escorted by Angels from
Heaven to Earth
Hidden in the form
of human birth.
The Light that gave man
the gift to create
lights on windows, trees and doors
of houses and expensive stores

.


When I Woke Up

When I woke up that morning
I looked outside
And the whole world was covered with glass
I did a dance I could not hide
Because I had no car to ride
And saw no buses pass.

My head was puffed with joy upon joy
I bounced around like a child
Lost in the midst of a goodie shop
Eating junk food by the mile
I could not repress my laughing smile.
I guffawed and could not stop.

But a strange and peculiar thing occurred
A story I fain to repeat
I saw it happen on my street
It shook me from my paradise
Sun exploded frozen glass on cold concrete
drowned my house with floods of ice.


Bird in Snow


It’s shadow shown black against snow

A perfect portrait of wing and beak

Chirping high.


Caribou


As we hunted caribou
We saw its tracks deep in permafrost
Our food lost.

Antlers caught in cones of pine
Rescued us from hunger and cold
Warm, full now.


The Best


Winter holidays, the best
Giving thanks, the advent of Christ, Valentines
Feasts, gifts, hearts

The coldest time of year, the best
Wrap ourselves in cool cocoons till Spring
Wake up changed.


Snow Fight


Tossing white fluffed spheres of joy

Back and forth, shouting, gleefully loud

Falling down.

Packed cold treasures in gloved palms

Icy crystals splatter on red cheeks

Blue lips smile.


Winterized


Glad I winterized my heart
When the snow storm came with wailing threat
I survived.

Glad I winterized my mind
When foreign thoughts came to twist my soul
Mind fought back.


Freezing-Point


Boiling points of longtime strife
Tempers flay, souls display hurts and wrongs.
Freezing-Point.

Unthawing takes too much time
forgiving, forgetting things that freeze.
Microwave.

Publication Date: 02-08-2010

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