"It's coming on Christmas they're cutting down the trees..."

a few
 wisps of cotton white in
 slow float through the cherry red
 dogwood, sparkle
 in the sunlight
 that cracks this gray sky
 the vanguard of inches
 to come, long night’s sleep,
 bright white ski hill climb, and the dark
twist of ice exposed river muscle.

 we brought the tree down off the hillside
to the caroling of the chickadees 
and the mutterings of the nuthatches
and heard in the rise of the wind
out of the valley
 the river song and
the voices of all those
 that have sung this hymn with us
when we’ve gone to get the tree.
as the last chord is strung and we
turn onto the road north and home
the melody of Christmas scent
to come and those past
a stickiness on our hands
the reminder that the voices
in the branches’ redolence
is your song “…of joy and peace.”

Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year

Hyvaa joulua Onnellista uutta vuotta

Keep a tight line,

Steve Therrien