Snow clouds over the mountains and new beginnings

I managed to slip out for a walk earlier this week just before it snowed–with the snow clouds hanging low over the mountains. It was amazingly beautiful. This is my second winter in Colorado. Winters here are pretty great–especially compared to winters in Chicago.

And those snow clouds inspired three haiku. I also wrote this haiku about snow last winter. Appreciating the beauty of nature seems a good way to welcome 2021. I found myself feeling sad as 2020 slipped into 2021 last night. I watched on TV as the ball dropped in Times Square. Last New Year’s Eve, I’d been in NYC–not Times Square, though!–but spending a lovely evening with my daughter, Gabi, who lives there, her boyfriend, and her dear friend Leela. Last year, as we crossed over into the New Year, we were dancing in her kitchen in the Bronx. Last night, I was missing her and also my dad, who passed away from Covid complications in October. Somehow, leaving 2020 behind felt like leaving him behind, too.

Snow clouds–new beginnings

There’s nothing like snow to make everything seem clean and new. The world looks different when coated with that white powder. It smells different, too. I love watching the snowfall. I find it quite soothing (as long as I don’t have to drive in it). Even though the snow fell a few days before New Year’s here, it still feels like a good place to focus.

I wanted to photograph the mountains, but I only had my phone with me, and I knew my camera couldn’t capture what I saw, so I just looked and breathed the fresh air as night fell. And wrote poems–which made me happy.

3 haiku about snow clouds

I.
 Whipped cream clouds surround
  scoops of Rocky mountain ice cream.
  Where are the cherries?

II.
Moon's face peers unblinking
Through filmy sheer cloud curtains
Who do you wait for?

III.
Mountain peaks poke up
Like knees from a bubble bath
through snow-scented clouds.

Happy 2021–and happy Poetry Friday

Thanks to Ruth for hosting Poetry Friday this week. Ruth celebrates the New Year–and Haitian Independence day–with poems and food and shares what other poets are thinking about as this new year begins.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I wish you a happy and healthy new year–and much love!

xoxo