Winter Solstice

There's a raw chill in the air, 

the sun is hazy and distant,

 the wind howls in the bare tree branches

 and whips across your face

 and through your clothes. 

But not today. 

Walking in the mountains

 on a relatively mild day, 

the world seems to hold its breath

 as the Earth teeters on the brink

 at its maximum distance

 from the magnetic pull of old Sol.

 Here there is no tinsel

 or jingling bells; 

the riotous reds and mellow yellows of fall

 have fallen in heaps of dried browns and grays; 

a few spiky stalks of pampas grass

 stand determinedly against a leaden sky

 and the watery sparkles of a cloud-dimmed sun.

 A banana

 seems especially sweet

  out of doors

 on a winter afternoon.