Just a Little Longer

With lips of frozen berries
I blow a kiss 
to barren fields and hills,
waving brittle leaves still
gripped by my twiggy fingers 
gloved in mist.

Just a little longer, 
I promise.

My woody hollows agape, 
I watch the skies
with moss-sculpted eyes
adoring ice and snow
while you search hedgerows 
for signs of spring.

Just a little longer, 
I promise.

My angular limbs, festooned 
with beards of frosted lichen,
are scented with tannin,
while my sisters are already sprouting
buds, tiny secrets, harbingers 
of the turning season.

Just a little longer, 
I promise.

Kim M. Russell, 17th January 2023

Free image by Klim Musalimov on Unsplash

Sanaa is hosting this Tuesday’s Poetics at the dVerse Poets Pub, and we are contemplating ‘the blizzard of the self’.

Inspired by two poem from Mark Strand and Roberta Hill Whiteman, Sanaa wants us to think about winter, the most difficult and testing time of the year. She says that “when winter comes, loneliness seeks to envelop even the most persevering of us. Strand’s poem ‘Lines for winter’, not only highlights this but also links winter metaphorically to human emotion.” She points out the use of personification and imagery, which is used to portray the significance of moving on and learning to love who we are. ‘Horses in snow’, on the other hand, uses “language, voice, structure and tone to create a story. A story that goes on to tell the readers of the Poet’s belief to keep pushing through.”

Our challenge is to become the embodiment of winter: telling the reader what we feel during this season or describing a typical day in January. Sanaa says we should feel free to go dark and philosophical or perhaps even write a story poem like Whiteman.

39 thoughts on “Just a Little Longer”

  2. Oh my heart, this is so moving Kim! The imagery here sets the mood for an in depth analysis and reading as we are led to feel the Poet’s emotions first-hand. I especially like; “I watch the skies with moss-sculpted eyes adoring ice and snow while you search hedgerows for signs of spring.”

    Thank you so much for adding your voice to the prompt ❤️❤️

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  9. We’re a ways behind you here, K. The birches are still too frozen to be jealous of the others, which are also still frozen solid. Maybe tomorrow… Fine work, though. Thanks.

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