Gentle Winter Reminder

Snow has been falling for half an hour
and already the garden is covered
with white. Slumped by the log store,
only the tip of an old sack is visible
as I approach, feet firmly in my wellies,
one sock creeping down to my toes.

The logs are frozen to the touch,
landing in the basket with a thud; I’m so
intent on piling logs to load the stove,
I almost miss him: a cock robin hops
along the log-store roof and stops,
head cocked, eye shining, red breast

aflame, reminding me of my duty to fill
the bird feeders – with the sweetest trill.

Kim M. Russell, 14th November 2019

File:Robin in the snow 3 (4250400943).jpg
Image found on Wikipedia

My response to Poets United Midweek Motif: Winter, also linked to dVerse Poets Pub Open Link Night

Sumana says that, where she lives, winter is not cold, bleak and depressing but sunny and bright with a nip in the air; It’s a time for comfort and good food, celebrating the end of sweltering heat. In the UK, it can get bitterly cold and difficult for many people, especially those of us who live in the countryside, where there is little or no public transport. That’s when the best company is the wildlife that visits our garden. Sadly, the only photograph I have of a robin isn’t very clear, so I had to find one on the Internet. 

For this week, Sumana asks us to write new winter poems, and gives us inspiration with quotes from Albert Camus and Lewis Carroll, as well as poems by Pablo Neruda, Wallace Stevens, Robert Hayden and Lisel Mueller.

56 thoughts on “Gentle Winter Reminder”

  2. I know that feeling… the one where your sock is sliding down into your boot toward your toes. I like the splash of red of the little cock-robin. He and the fire-logs make me feel warmth despite being out in the cold.

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  7. This is exceptionally well penned. My favorite lines: “I almost miss him: a cock robin hops / along the log-store roof and stops, / head cocked, eye shining, red breast” The repetition of all those vowel sounds is glorious!

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  8. Kim,

    You have added one of my favourite images into your snowy setting; that cute little robin. My, how a robin just adds a hint of warmth and colour to the cold and blank scene…and yes, I must remember to prepare the bird feeders for my garden robin too:) Lovely poem Kim..

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  12. This is absolutely stunning in its imagery, Kim! 😀 I especially love; “a cock robin hops along the log-store roof and stops, head cocked, eye shining, red breast aflame.” I can visualize it! ❤️

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  24. Fine touch here, amid the dreary heaviness of the settling winter, one bright fine note warm and thriving within. We get through winter stringing those notes together. Woven delicately with slant rhyme and buttoned just so with the final couplet. Your craft sings here, Kim.

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  25. This is lovely, Kim. A beautiful picture of your garden/day.
    I was going to mention Derrick’s blog, too. It’s not poetry, but beautiful photos. And “their” robin is named Nugget. He follow Derrick’s wife around in the garden.
    Our robins are larger, and I guess not so territorial because we see a bunch of them together.

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