I was inspired by a recent contest to write a rhyming poem about winter. The poem didn’t make the cut, but I had great fun writing it and now I have a Poetry Friday post. I call that a double win! I’m actually still playing with it, but here it is in its current version:
What Shall I Pack in the Box Marked Winter
after Bobbi Katz
Newly bare branches patchworking the sky
Echoes of geese after migrating by
The first chilly breeze that tasted of snow
A flurry of flakes in a hypnotic flow
Waking to snow fallen thick through the night–
A snow day, a free day, a winter delight
Boisterous sledding, mad race down the hills
the laughter, the screaming, the thrills and the spills
Building a snowman with cold carrot nose
bent twiggy arms and a lopsided pose
Laughing out clouds on a still, frigid day
watching them form, then drift slowly away
Damp mittens, hot cocoa and fresh, rosy faces
The welcome-home warmth coming in from cold places
Cold window panes etched with lacy frost flowers
Snuggling close through white-blanketed hours
The early night darkness and quiet to read
Space for the dreamers and dreams to take seed
©Molly Hogan
This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted by Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise. Be sure to stop by and check out her cheerful mash-ups! In the meantime, enjoy all the wonders that winter brings your way!
Nix the comfort zone 
What a great poem!
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Thanks! There’s so much to love about winter that it wasn’t hard to find material!
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What a great poem!
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Thanks, Judith! Wishing you the best of winters and holidays!
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This poem is such a vivid image of a snowy day I can almost feel it. Is “laughing out clouds” a new line? I love it!
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That is a new line! I tinkered a bit before I submitted 🙂
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Love that hypnotic flow — snow does that to a person! And yes, your poem is a win!
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Thanks, Linda! I love watching the snow fall–Especially when there’s no commute involved!
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Molly, your winter rhyming poem is rich with imagery. Snow complaints from this reader!
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lol Thanks, Alan! Winter offers up lots of rich imagery and I’m lucky enough to live in a place where she visits regularly.
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“Writing is its own reward.” – Annie Lamott
The more I write and the more experiences I gain the more I live the wisdom of Annie Lamott! Funny, how much happier I am when I am my primary audience!
And by the way, rhyming poems are so playful! It’s a children’s book of joy.
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Great quote, Dan! I love writing in rhyme and the playful nature of it. This one was a lot of fun to write.
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This is fantastic, Molly. So many beautiful images. Even though I don’t really know snow well – you brought it alive for me. I love ‘laughing out clouds’. Such a clever poem!
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Thanks, Kat! Snow has always been part of my life–usually a joyful, fun-filled one.
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This poem is an absolute DELIGHT!
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Thanks, Marcie! It was fun to write, too 🙂
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I can’t imagine why it didn’t make it, Molly! You’ve brought every bit of winter in your box, and with a rhyme that makes me see a group on stage acting it out! What fun, so, Happy Wintering!
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Thanks, Linda. It will be fun to see which poems did win the contest. I’m just glad it prompted me to write this one 🙂 I love writing rhyming poems and don’t often do so.
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Lovely vision of winter, especially your opening and closing tactile images growing from branch to dream to seed! All wants to be outside of a box, thanks Molly!
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“All wants to be outside of a box” is a perfect line! Wishing you a lovely winter!
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This is the kind of winter I always dream of – frosty and cold and snowy. Not the soggy, grey wet winter we have here!
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Our winters have become a bit hit or miss here lately. Snow one day and 50+ degrees the next!
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Molly, your poem has beautiful imagery and great rhyme! I feel like I’m there with you. I love cold, snowy days, too. You grabbed me right away with that first line! I love how you used “patchworking” and the rhyme with echoes of geese, so the reader hears the geese, also. I always love the first chilly breeze, and I love to taste the snow, and great rhyme with “hypnotic flow.”
I see and hear the mad race down the hill and love the rhyme with thrills and spills. Love the personification with “laughing out clouds” and the rhyme “frigid day” and the clouds drifting away. Thank you for sharing your joyful, snowy day poem, which was lots of fun. I’m looking forward to having more snowy days here and I wish you more there! 🙂
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Thanks so much, Gail! I do love the look of snow. I have so many warm emotional memories that spring from snowfall!
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