Rik George writes

Winter

The winter’s diluted the sunshine. 
As though November grew thinner 
October was brilliant and warmer 
The grasses were green then, not brown yet. 
The summer’s departed; snow flurries 
Are waiting to fall on the mountains. 
The fishes swim slower in rivers 
Much tamer than summer meltwater 
Had made them. December is coming. 
The rabbits have refurbished their burrows, 
The wolves and the coyotes are denning 
For winter. The people light lanterns 
To drive back the darkness that threatens 
To cover the daylight of winter.

Winter Landscape -- Joanne Jarry