For Everything There is a Season
For the sound of first frost
It is my cheek that feels it first,
An unlikely, formless harbinger,
That spans the gap from nose to ear and eye to mouth,
Like the backcloth on a stage of stars.
Except, it is my cheek that makes the first report,
While the rest are too much absorbed in yesterday’s work
Of tie-your-shoes’ and hurry-ups and quick-go-back-in-and-get-its.
Suddenly, abruptly, turning on the threshold for goodbye
Tilting my cheek to the sky,
I feel the pricking chill of change.
And though I have witnessed the dying back,
Smelled the decay set in under foot,
That decisive bite of cold upon my cheek arrests me,
Startles me out of expecting the Fall would be indefinite,
And sets both grief and thrill to crystalize in my veins.
In the pause, my tongue tastes the sparser air
And notes the absence of life. Darling, get your coat.
My nose, corroborating, threatens to run.
It is clean, it tells me, without the fuss of flowers.
My ear concurs, it is louder now,
Traffic passing on the street, men taking out the rubbish, doors slamming,
Without the cushiony foliage of summer.
I lift my eyes to steely blue,
A cloudless sky
To see at last the frost has hardened while I slept,
And put my hand to where it kissed my cheek.
About the Creator
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Comments (11)
Congratulations on placing in the challenge… a delightful sensory poem for Frost!
The final image of touching the cheek where the frost kissed you is so gentle and evocative. A lovely memorable ending.
Beautifully done, Hannah! 🤩 Congrats!!!
Hannah, I love what you did here. You had me hooked from the very beginning with "It is my cheek that feels it first." Congratulations on your win❣🥰
Wow... this was so beautifully written and such a sensory experience!! Well done Hannah!! Congrats on placing, runner-up in the challenge!!
Wooohooooo congratulations on your win! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
This is beautiful for many reasons, Hannah, but the interweaving of life, real life, in the moment of discovery is what makes it priceless. Your writing often reminds me of Proust’s in the sense that you capture so many of the little things that most of us brush aside or ignore in the everyday. You are present and awake. And your writing helps awaken me to so much of what i have missed. This is an extraordinary entry to the challenge. I hope the judges recognize what you have accomplished within your art of the real.
And once again dropping a masterpiece….
"It is clean, it tells me, without the fuss of flowers." That line was so beautiful and brilliant! Loved your poem!
I adore this. I know there are countless wins and placements I need to catch up with and will. But I love the mix of the mundane and the more ethereal and natural beauty and magic. Just brilliant and I'm not the biggest fan of winter or winter loving poetry
Oh, I loved that last line so much! Such a wonderful sensory feast :)