Tuur Verheyde
Four Poems for Midwinter
These are my four poems for midwinter:
One about the Solstice and the light returning,
One about the darkness and its whispers,
One about the cold and its subtle strains,
One about the new year and its mired hope.
I hope you find pleasure in these poems
and wish you all the strength, health and
good fortune you need to transcend
these tumultuous times.

Solstice in Winter
The midwinter pale advances
From above, its tides
Breaking on your sullen brow,
And with each billowing crest
A greater dark pushes on
To find a beachhead
In your trembling
Mind.
But today, Solstice dawns,
And the sun-tide pushes back
Towards the breach
Of light.

Darkling Note
Darkling note,
Birthed by the midnight cold,
A sound, belted by the empty
Black, scribbled on a scrap,
A word, orphaned at dawn,
When I find its contours
Mewling illegibly,
A meaning lost, smouldering
In the morning
Gleam.

Find Another
One steps into
The rapturous cold,
Numb to all
But the boiling
Of their breath,
Blind to all
But the streetlight
Scolding drizzle dead,
Deaf to all
But the weary
Sigh of sleepless
Sight, through mist
Receding.

New Year’s Chance
Newness beckons us with glee
So much promise in a one
Turning into two and yet
Askance we see the blight
Already following us across,
Into our new year dreams.
Sadly, dates do little on their own,
Whatever is not fleeting
Will remain. And yet, perhaps,
We have some choice
Of blessings to bring and
Burdens to bury behind
The sheen of yesteryear.