Noilly Prattle: Winter Solstice

Friday, December 26, 2014

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.







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