As this year progresses, I sit back and ponder what may have been a winter of discontent with raging storms, the heaviness of pandemic days, and the challenge of my life move. But there is more to reflect upon. I recall the freshness of a winter day with its bright sunshine and mounds of snow greeting morning. I think of dark nights in which the snow did not even whisper its way to earth, but seemed to salt the night with silence. (Dean Koontz) I recollect snowflakes, soft and white, dancing their way to earth and then, I drift into a sanctuary of thought. It is in winter we behold the charms of solemn majesty and naked grandeur. (James Ellis)
Photo of the aftereffects of a Long Island winter storm by Judi Drucker
Why now in the heat of spring do I think of winter? Fueled by sights and sounds of this past winter, I quietly sit designing #WintersEmbrace2021 Gallery. Within its range of artistic expressions, I contemplate how many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose if there were no winter in our year! (Thomas Wentworth Higginson)
winter embraced earth
warming the coldest of hearts
silence altered thoughts
©CV, 2021
I hope this post entices you to join me as I gear up to unveil Winter's Embrace Gallery. Stay tuned for the gallery to become a springtime gift that cools down our heated days.
In the meantime, I am off to a virtual retirement party for Poetry Friday's calendar keeper, teacher extraordinaire, author, cherished poet, and friend, Mary Lee Hahn.
#MarvelousMaryLee has been a supporter of my galleries for years, so what better way than sharing some of her treasured words from past galleries.
A dual language ekphrastic poem fit for winter
Since winter edged its way back into spring in one of its sprinter moods, I share one of MaryLee's spring image poems.
I also would like to share Mary Lee's poem on gratitude and give thanks for the poetic gifts she has bestowed on the Kidlit poetry community.
In gratitude
for living among poet friends
who share corners of their minds,
heartbeats of their thoughts,
and the depth of their emotions.
In gratitude
for a bright star named Mary Lee-
keeper of the Poetry Friday calendar,
NCTE presenter with a smile for all,
beloved teacher with lessons that energize her students,
and revered poet friend.
©CV, 2021
#MarvelousMaryLee, may your retirement open the door to another chapter in your book of life!
Hooray for #MarvelousMaryLee
and
for throwing a surprise party for our #MarvelousMaryLee.
