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Winter's Embrace

10.12.23

By Katrina ThornleyPublished 2 years ago 1 min read

The chill in the air

Carried with it a resounding

Sense of peace,

A reminder that

The quiet time

Was approaching,

Where earth slumbered

And events came to a halt,

Windows closed

And doors locked

Combating the cold

Of coming Winter-

A being who was announced

First by the fumbling of leaves,

The blush brought to their features

Before they browned and fell

Upon acorn piles

And grass dusted in

Icy crystals

That melted with the Sun’s

First appearance in the sky-

Growth was paused,

As humans nestled

By fireside

With steaming mugs

And thick volumes of

Words meant to pull them

To other worlds

While their physical forms awaited

The warmth of spring,

Not yet prepared to rush along

Winter’s visit

In fear of encouraging

One of his storms

That would rattle their home

And snap the spines

Of standing oaks,

While they counted the minutes

Until Spring’s uprising-

What a fickle relationship-

And all the power Nature held.

Katrina Thornley is a nature poet. novelist, and freelance journalist that resides in Rhode Island. She has two poetry collections currently published, a novel, as well as a short story anthology. Her poetry collections "Arcadians: Lullaby in Nature" and "Arcadians: Wooden Mystics" were inspired by a local park and life in her small rural town. You can find them on Amazon now!

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About the Creator

Katrina Thornley

Rhode Island based author and poetess with a love for nature and the written word. Works currently available include Arcadians: Lullaby in Nature, Arcadians: Wooden Mystics, 26 Brentwood Avenue & Other Tales, and Kings of Millburrow.

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Outstanding

Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!

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Comments (3)

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  • Randy Wayne Jellison-Knock2 years ago

    There's only been one year when I didn't lament the first thaw as the snow began to melt. It was in the 1990s, it began with a freezing rain that left a thick sheet of ice over everything in early October. That rain turned into another several inches of snow. It didn't melt. In January we had three blizzards that got everything cancelled, all on Saturday (meaning no worship services at church). In February, there were two more, also on Saturdays. In March there were another two, also on Saturdays. The first Saturday in March was the final major blizzard of the year. It, too, was on a Saturday. Across the state of South Dakota we averaged almost 100 inches of snow that year. There were banks of it still in the shelter belts through the month of June. (This was not in the Black Hills but rather the central plains.) By November, funeral homes quit doing burials. They didn't resume until sometime the following spring. I love the winter. But that was a bit much even for me.

  • Beautiful... I am right there with you in Winter's embrace... snug... peaceful. 💙✍️💙

  • Joe Patterson2 years ago

    Great poetry.

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