Beyond LiteracyLink: Winter Whisperings Unveiled

Welcome to Winter Whisperings
A Gallery of Artistic Expressions
featuring a Community of Reflective Writers

It is with pleasure that I unveil the Gallery of Winter Whisperings designed to showcase winter as a season of perspectives and nature as a positive vehicle for expressive voice. With the 2015 National Poetry Month in progress, the poet's voice has been raised across Twitter channels and throughout classrooms. This gallery is a tribute to digital poetry as it reflects in image and words the harmony and serenity found in nature.

While perusing the gallery, be drawn into the visual experience. Find the many faces of winter as you travel with me across the United States, through Canada, off to Europe, and then to Katmandu, Nepal to

*You may wish to enlarge your screen before perusing the gallery and listen to Fiona Hawkins' music to add an audio experience.

Fiona Hawkins, "Winter Cold"

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Featured Poetic Form, the Zeno,

created by J. Patrick Lewis

Former National Children Poet Laureate

Above the Clouds I by Georgia O'Keefe (1962-63) - The Georgia O'Keefe Museum

The new verse form that J. Patrick Lewis invented was inspired by the mathematical "hailstone sequence." It is a 10-line verse form with a repeating syllable count of 8,4,2,1,4,2,1,4,2,1. The rhyme scheme is abcdefdghd. His poem above is a zeno with two zenos included.

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There is a stilled beauty in winter.

Winter's quietude blankets the world with a swatch of white.

Sense the serenity found in stillness.

For children, winter is a playground of white

or a Chalkabration celebration

that allows for restful sleep.

Even adults encased by white winterscapes can

have a playful perspective and a smile.

Behold the beauty of winter gardens

and the wonder of the season that can be found around the world.

Winter, one of the four seasons

Few flowers for climate reasons

BUT some are STILL growing well

Looking similar to a bell

YES, Snowdrops are growing

THEY let nature get going

Gust MEES aka @knolinfos, Luxembourg

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light,

and winter in the shade.

Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

Winter dances in patterns. I watch its flight.

As dreamers wander and writers write.

This beautiful instrumental is a soothing background sound for the continuation of your reading.

Reflect on the wonder of winter and the lasting memories.

Sometimes, winter desires to settle and stay.

The first signs of spring spring forth, bringing hope.

Waiting patiently for thaw's softened breath,

hopes fly into a stilled sky awaiting spring.

Listen to the whisperings of nature to be inspired!

Dreams float like whisperings

among frosted branches

flanked against a winter sun.

Then, fly into a stilled spring.

It is my hope that this collection has allowed you to reflect on the beauty that exists in the winter season, rather than remembering winter 2015 as the season of extreme weather conditions.

I am deeply grateful to the REFLECT WITH ME writers who contributed their creativity and artistic expressions to make this gallery a reflection of the inner spirit. As you exit this gallery, please leave a comment for all to read.