A bunch of hot heads

and cold hearts which disturb peace

and unleash terror? That’s ICE.

~

ICE will lose its grip

when the thaw of compassion

permeates our Nation’s soul.

The glittering crust

of sunlit scintillations

fade to gray as clouds increase.

~

Before you know it

even the graying crust will

be dancing in the moon light.

Yet another chance

to practice patience as we

await rising temperatures.

~

Impatience infects

the affect of the masses

as this deep freeze continues.

My life still remains

shrink-wrapped in the sheets of sleet

un-eroded by the sun.

~

Just hoping it’s not

a long lasting condition

and will quickly come unwrapped.

Each day that passes

without melted ice and snow

leaves us in the cold.

~

There will be no thaw

‘til nature adds one more dose

of winter’s strong medicine.

Once upon a time

snow days gave us a break. Now

they are just some fairy tale.

~

Like the Brother’s Grimm,

some author tales and fables

without Disney Princesses.

Life has challenges

and comforts. Both ask for our

awareness and attention.

~

And attend, also,

little ails discomfiting;

the harbingers of heartache.

Three days in advance

store shelves already picked clean.

What will Friday night be like?

~

Forecasts of snow tend

to make Virginians a bit

flakey but quite well prepared.

As the temperature

slowly sinks, my gratitude

for our warm home grows.

~

The warmth of the hearth,

Hestia’s most loving gift,

is the heart of every home.

Her brown clothes tattered

She stands proud by river’s side

White Lady of the forest

~

Wearing a blanket

of snow over her brown clothes,

she glows happily.

The squirrels demand

they get the peace prize as they’re

as worthy as what’s his name.

~

Squirrels just want it to

trade for some small concession

from “peaceful” Honey-badger.

Unexpected flash

purple in the winter wood

vibrant bloom out of season?

~

Something left behind

by some blooming idiot?

You’d have to get close to tell.

I wish I could save

a bit of this bright sunshine

for comfort on days turned gray.

~

Saved in memory

awaiting resurrection

when the need for warmth is great.

The Camels are back!

Terrors of my childhood,

ploddings echo in old ears.

~

May you find your way

to a lush oasis with

no assistance from those beasts.

The smell was so bad

they thought that skunk in the road

was an ice agent.

~

Would that ice agents

were just as slow on the draw

as that late unlamented.

Is the government

a giant confidence game-

one great big Three-Card Monte?

~

The confidence men

try every trick in the book

to control our minds and hearts.

When kindness whispers

in our ears, may we not let

anger drown it out.

~

Whispered kind council

swims warmly in open hearts;

anger drowns in icy rage.

Windy two-faced day

brings bright sunshine in the south

yet to the north dark clouds reign.

~

Windy two-facedness

somehow reminds me of some

folks in high places

The coldness of ice

becomes more apparent with

the passing of each harsh day.

~

May their frozen hearts

break from all the ill they’ve done

when, in due time, justice comes.

When a bad actor

does good for the wrong reasons,

it’s hard to cheer the action.

~

Let’s cheer the action,

knowing the bad can sometimes

be an instrument of good.

Labor has a way

of erasing heady thoughts;

unearthing a sense of peace.

~

At least it’s something

we can control unlike those

heady thoughts that haunt our soul.

Waiting for the sun

to chase wintry gray away

with a splash of golden light.

~

Like a balmy bath

soothing sore and tired joints,

sunlight warms the aching soul.

Even in the cold

the birds sing, showing us what’s

possible if we but tried.

~

Sing! Yes, and chant too!

And, when rising together,

we can confront this coldness!

Sudden snow showers,

kind of like divine dandruff,

besmirch all dark surfaces.

~

And sometimes erase

whatever else was on our

to do list that day.

When I look over

yonder, what do I see? I

see A.I. coming for me.

~

A.I. or H.I.-

does it really matter much?

Both are “theoretical”!

Starting the New Year

toasting at the Vet E.R.

leaves much to be desired

~

We start each New Year

with the same old bad habits

and that’s just the way it goes.

2025,

a year of infamy which

most of us came to regret.

~

May the coming spring

return common decency

after this heartless winter.

Sublime is the joy

of crafting a masterwork

from the midden heap.

~

The transformation

of garbage into gold is

always rewarding.

What’s in store for us,

we can’t know, but we

can show him we can’t be bought.

~

Just because he pays

doesn’t mean we will stay bought.

That’s the best part of the art of this deal!