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| [Baut Images: Winter Collage] |
Oh, bleak Winter,
From where have you come
To taunt us with bygone days
Of snowfields in the sun.
Bleak Winter with gray skies.
Branches scratching the Light
From out the day
And into night.
Bleak Winter with little snow.
A travesty of a season
Carved in ashes
For no reason.
Bleak Winter with perfidious weather.
Leaving us to ponder
Where Jack Frost has gone
In a mood so very somber.
Bleak Winter like humankind.
Bereft of integrity
Forgotten values
Living the life of a banditti.
Oh, bleak Winter,
The tombstone cracks
Under the very pressure
Of a single snowflake's track.
2012 Roger Allen Baut
"To every life a light that shines,
To every heart a beat that's true."
smiles..winter without snow is a bleak thing indeed...but really..i can tell you where Jack Frost was.... for three weeks, europe froze..think we had the coldest time within 20 or 30 years...
ReplyDeleteHi Claudia! Thanks for stopping by and leaving your thoughts! Yes, indeed, it has been very bleak Winter here and 'unseasonably' mild. Heard about the freeze and deaths in Europe. Certainly a visit from Jack Frost! Not sure what all this portends, but the wearther has been erratic. Most of the Great Lakes went unfrozen this year.
DeleteThanks again Claudia, always a pleasure to see and hear from you!
Roger ☺
I can hear my footsteps crunching over your words as I walk through your winter wonderland. On the west coast here, it is like there was no winter this year, and we have meerly gone through a long fall into a wet spring. I miss running in the stillness of white lanes. Thanks for reminding me what it can be like.
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed, Tracie! Same here...Weather's been changing in SE Michigan over the past several years. Today there was about an inch of snow in the morning, and it's already melting away this afternoon...what the future portends we can only guess! Thanks again Tracie...Roger ☺
DeleteRoger, really nice job here. The oh…first line repeat was used so well here. I remember in college reading so much poetry that used this opening and then repeating later on in odes/laments, which, I hadn't really realized until reading your piece, that poets seem to have gotten away from using it. Why is that? the oh…is such a great line, as it not only calls the subject to attention, but it adds a personal aspect as well. Excellent job. Winter is so tied in very nicely. And the picture with the solitary leaf amongst a spattering of loose snow is outstanding. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHey Fred! Nice to see you again and have your comments. Thanks so much for sharing your perspectives on "Bleak Winter." And, yes, I agree with everything you say, especially, "I hadn't really realized until reading your piece, that poets seem to have gotten away from using it." and "Why is that?" Actually, I'm not really quite sure Fred, but my guess would be that perhaps they might not be familiar with this.
DeleteI started reading classics very young, and I mean very, very young, and methinks the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey," were the first books I read.
Wow, it all comes back to me now! Yes, it was the Greek poems and plays, that I first connected with. I always liked the way the Greeks had the chorus that would repeat their lines in unison.
"oh…is such a great line, as it not only calls the subject to attention..." I do agree here too!
Wow Fred, you really got my synapses firing today, and am very pleased you liked my presentation and picture!
Many thanks,
Roger ☺
hey man have you read sams (semaphore) you guys are jiving a bit...the tombstone in your final stanza is a great image to leave us on as well....
DeleteNot as yet, but I'll check it out Brian. Thanks for letting me know, as well as stopping by, and leaving your thoughts! Roger ☺
Deletejust an FYI the new word verification is playing fits with IE users...i could not even see your comment box until i bounced over to mozila
ReplyDeleteWow! Thanks for the heads-up on that! If it isn't one thing it's another Brian, and I didn't think I even had that word verification thing turned on...I'll go check it out! Thanks again, Brian! Roger ☺
DeleteBeautiful write, great flow and spot-on imagery!
ReplyDelete@AudreyHowitt
Hi Audrey! Thanks for stopping by and leaving your thoughts! So pleased you resonated to tonight's offering. Roger ☺
DeleteThis is in the shape of an ode but actually is a winter lament. Beautifully haunting in the repetition of the first words. Very effective.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by Gay, and leaving your thoughts/comments. I sincerely appreciate it! Yes, indeed, "a winter lament," and that you found this "Beautifully haunting in the repetition of the first words. Very effective."
DeleteI very much appreciated your take on this!
Roger ☺
As always, a joy to see your photography, and this poem seems to resonate especially well for me today, even though we are having the mildest of winters with plenty of sun, I still feel that bleakness you describe. Last stanza rules, Roger--good stuff. And kudos on your work with the NWCU.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for stopping by and leaving your thoughts Joy! I really appreciate hearing from you. Glad you liked this weeks contribution and photograph!
DeleteYes, the winter has been mild indeed! Our season's here in SE MI really have shifted from what they once were.
And thank you for the complement on the NWCU! Natasha really has been the catalyst for that happening, as well as the FB page and blog! She's great to work with too...I think her energy could power a city sometime!
Thanks again Joy,
Roger ☺
what a well written words that reflects such a winter, Burr.
ReplyDeleteHi there and thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your comment and thoughts, and am pleased you felt, "well written words that reflects such a winter..."
DeleteBest regards,
Roger ☺
Bereft of integrity...well that sums up 99% of our ills. Great winter lines. I'm from Ohio so I know the cold and gray which goes on and on. I think you've come to the River Journal, right?! First time I've read your poetry, nice. See ya!
DeleteThanks for stopping by and leaving your thoughts! Glad you enjoyed this write, and wrote "Great winter lines." My writing is a bit different as I like to form a poem into 'triplet' with image, poem and video to give them a little more depth. Thanks again, and best regards, Roger ☺
DeleteAmazing, as you say, the synchronicity of our bleak winter compisitions. In brief, staccato lines that reflect the gray of bleak winter days. Stark and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYes, I was really pleased to see we both hit on aspects of winter Samuel! Pleased you found it "Stark and beautiful." Roger ☺
DeleteThe tombstone cracks
ReplyDeleteUnder the very pressure
Of a single snowflake's track
Loved these last lines in particular. I don't know what it is about winter that makes us so reflective. I know it does me...and much more than the summer. You've captured its greyness and stillness so well here. Niceley done
Hey yah Stuart! Glad you resonated to my words...yes, I think winter is reflective in that we have to 'slow' down a bit, and see things as they really are. In spring everyone starts to get busy, then fast and hot summer, then on into the autumn when things start slowing down. Thanks again, and best regards, Roger ☺
DeleteWinter can be harsh but we need winter to appreciate the other seasons ...Loved this thank you so much x
ReplyDeleteNice to se you and thanks for stopping by! And I totally agree that, "Winter can be harsh but we need winter to appreciate the other seasons." And thank you so much for writing, "Loved this thank you so much." Thanks again, Roger ☺
DeleteRoger, a beautiful write.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Ayala! I appreciate your sentiments and stopping by! Always nice to see you! ☺
DeleteThis is beautiful. Rarely are we treated to a sense of melancholy over the absence of winter's gown. Often, we see the beauty as a nuisance rather than one more of life's blessings. Beautiful work.
ReplyDeleteHi yah Beth! Thanks for stopping by abd leaving your comment, and really am happy you felt this was a 'Beautiful work.' Really appreciate your sentiments!
DeleteRoger ☺