Winter Solstice

By Bruce Levine

Posted on

12/21/16 @ 11:28 a.m.

I walk my dog
Through liquid air
Miniscule droplets
Pelt my forehead
As I make my rounds
Of the parking lot

The winter solstice
Less than a day old                                                     Only yesterday
The morning sky
Not quite fulfilling
Wakefulness                                                                Yesterday
…………………………………………………………………………..The shortest
The sky                                                                         Of the year
Blue-gray
With a tinge of white
At the border                                                               At the horizon
Like an artist’s canvass
Not quite ready
Prepared
Flat
Waiting

For lines                                                                      Perpetual mist
Of a painting                                                              Translucent
The sky                                                                        Waiting for rain
Waiting                                                                        Waiting for something
For lines                                                                      Waiting for sunshine
Of clouds
Shapes
Figures forming
Ghosts of the day

Rain
Cleansing the streets
Soaking the earth                                                   ….Coating the cars
…………………………………………………………………………..With droplets
…………………………………………………………………………..Beading up

Mindless puddles
Of dampness

Empty power

Clearing
Clouds forming
Grays
Mixed with
Patches of white

The sun
Fighting
Drying the
Blacktop

Umbrellas gone
Drying
Standing                                                                      Semi-closed
Leaning against
The wall
Unfurled
Waiting

Another walk
The sun
Blazing through the clouds
I shield my eyes

The winter sun
The winter solstice                                                      Was yesterday
The shortest day
Of the year                                                                    

                                                                                       One minute longer

I make my rounds
Avoiding puddles
Empty spaces
And murky water
Evaporating
In the morning sun

/
The sky turns blue
The clouds
White
A gentle breeze
Light plays
On the
Leaves of the trees

My dog lies
Sleeping
Content

Cars
                                                                                       Trucks
People
…………………………………………………………………………..Strollers
Moving
…………………………………………………………………………..Through
Lives

Getting on with the
Day
Forward motion

Toy soldiers
And lemmings

Wasted time
Wasted lives
Never answered
Never dreaming
Never shifting
Gears in motion

Standing still
Treading water

Watching                                                                     and
Waiting                                                                        for
Nothing

And yet there’s more
I won’t get caught
In the miasma of
Time

I move my pencil
Across the paper
I look
For new beginnings

Like the day after
The winter solstice
The days get longer                                                     One minute longer

New options
New hope
New lives

Bruce Levine