Driving down a back road in Taos, the Winter's Sun burns through snow laden clouds.
Reflections of a Poet
Winter's Sun
Trees of Winter
(inspired by a photograph by David Douglas entitled “Winter’s Sun” -
for David and Karen)
The winter solstice has come and gone,
leaving in its wake
the naked trees of winter.
Without self-consciousness,
they stand tall and straight,
and without shame,
they reveal to us
their character and true beauty.
Though the sun
is now far distant from the earth,
it brightly shines
through a stand of tall, slim trees
and forms the backdrop
against which the trees
are seen in silhouette.
Their trunks are slim,
but halfway up the trees the trunks
give way to the graceful flow
of branches and twigs,
“…like a thousand fingers reaching high,
silhouetted against the sky” * —
whether out of supplication or praise
is not known.
How much we could learn
from the trees,
if we would only
watch and listen.
*I borrowed these phrases from my earlier poem, “Fall Wood.”
“Trees of Winter,” Copyright© 2019 by John D. Call