Welcome to Day Eight of the 12 Days of Solstice Poetry Challenge 2021

Today we return to the heart of winter. Living in the deep cold leaves an impression on you. I will never forget what -45 degrees feels like, nor will I forget wind chills that plunge much lower than that. I will never forget stepping outside, taking that first deep breath that shocks the lungs. I will never forget the feeling of finally diving back indoors and wrapping icy fingers around a cup of hot, steaming cocoa, welcoming the burn as my fingers start to warm up again. And I will never forget the inner sense that even frigid weather has something very important to teach us if we allow the lessons in.

Your prompt today is: POLAR WIND. And here’s my poem for you….

POLAR WIND

Pull your coat closer–
Only owls fly at this hour.
Languid bears loll in their dens
And even the winter martins
Race for shelter in a snow-bent pine.

We can accept these bitter times–
Inside, we are always warm.
Nobody said it would be easy, this biting chill
Daring us to carry our inner warmth outside.

If you’d like to share what you’ve written in response to today’s prompt, please feel free to add your poem as a comment–here or on my Facebook page where this prompt will also be posted.

Enjoy this blessed day, and I’ll see you on Day Nine!

Barbara