12th Day of Yule 2017 CE

An Afternoon on Hurricane Ridge

Sweet is the taste of alpine fir

Crisp with the crunch of ice

Fluffy the gray jay and raven

And unsolicited advice,

Bright are the rainbow sparkles

In a golden shaft of light

Cast by scattered snow

Crystals that were never white,

Proud is the wind that sweeps

Over ridges and meadows steep

Sculptor of tree and snow

The secrets of its art it keeps.

11th Day of Yule

Fire in Winter

Sweet is the scent of candles

Warm the dance of the flame

Quiet the burn of fire

A flickering long-wave refrain,

Vibrant the heat of the wood stove

A cook fire bound in metal

Warming the hands and building

Snapping as logs settle,

Cold is the light of the stars

Sharp and pale in the sky

With yearning we watch them blaze

And wish with their numbers to fly,

Pale is the morning sunlight

Rich gold in the afternoon

It warms the passing days

And marks time by shadows and moon.

10th Day of Yule

Winter Tempers

Arctic is the breath

Of the winter storm

Polar is the touch

Of December clouds

Soon shall the winter

Give way to spring

Though the winter stretches on

As the months will turn.

Shy is the snow

By a temperate sea

Light is its hold

On the land

Bold is the wind

On the mountains

Where it scours and sculpts

With a fearless hand.

9th Day of Yule

New Snow

Tis the quiet eve of a celebration of light

Snow begins to fall on into the night

Tis a light snow a quiet snow

Dense and fast

Light as angel kisses as it falls past

Whispering in the forest

Squeaking on the road

Tis a light snow a cold snow

From which tales are told,

Not the fat fluffy flakes

Of which I am familiar

Like bits of lace

Wet and peculiar

Big and lovely and prone to melt

Fading away into the earth’s muddy pelt,

Tis the small ice crystals

That gather on a frozen land

A layer of magic

You can catch in your hand,

For snow is a magic

Of winter and cold

A magic of laughter

And wishes they unfold

Sparkling as it sails down

Trees merrily to frost

Swooping into earthen contours

Til the land of yesterday is lost,

Snow is Winter’s magic dust

The cold season’s gift

And if the Winter you shall trust

The world you may shift

From that dreary land of old

You know just too well

To a new land of sparkles and joy

For a Winter spell.

8th Day of Yule

The Grand Doug

The fir that is grand

The fir that is not

Not fir not hemlock

Not cedar or pine

Together we bind them

In a Yule tree fine,

Proud we stand them

In a corner of wood

Glowing golden

The color of home

By the table of candles

Lit in the gloam,

Lights are strung

Across their mingled boughs

Red and orange

Green and blue

Ruby poinsettias

On the lowest tier

Afloat they ring

The trees with cheer,

Snowflake garlands

Spiral down

As if a fluffy

Rope of snow

With shining snowflakes

Gold, silver, and white

Ornaments shine

Gleam and glitter bright

Quietly lie

In holiday splendor

Jump out at eyes in colors bold

Icicles fringe the tree

New and old

Tis the Yule tree known as

The Grand Doug!

7th Day of Yule

The Sworn Pause of Winter

Time hath paused on the darkest night

Where the stars shine clear and cold

Silence reigns in the blackest chill

As she did in times of old,

The wind is still

And the forest froze

And the shadows sharp may lie

On the snow and stone that chose

To harken to winter’s cry,

The wolves may stand

As statues still

On the ridges that grace the land,

The owls’ flight silent will

A shadow in a shadow be

That it not disrupt the stars

They shall fly ‘neath the canopy,

Velvet paws of cats do not mar

The sheen of the solstice snow

For they lie in wait in the forest

In shadows that only they know

By the stony cliffs’ crest

On the primeval boughs

Sly and alert they lie in wait

In the silence of a thousand vows

Made that they might never abate

By lives that dwelled in ages past

An oath of silence when time shall pause

To remember as long as eternity shall last

Precious memory effect and cause

Remind us in the winter still

Of when the universe was young

And knew not but darkness and chill

Before life had ever begun

In its color and vibrance

In its noise and its light

When the universe took a chance.

6th Day of Yule

Winter Solstice

Even as the shifting tides

Of balance tween the day and night

Have paused upon the precipice

Of solstice,

So the sound of winter nights

Has paused within the dark,

Still is the wind and the forest

Sharp is the light of the stars

In frozen harmony and balance

Poised ere the turn towards light,

Here when the dark runs longest

And the day swift gives way to the night.