A Poem for the Winter Solstice

Warm Wool and a Window Star
Photo (Woolens and Star Too) by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem is an occasion poem...I wrote it for the occasion of the winter solstice which is today!  Today marks the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year.  After tonight at 5:23pm, our days in the Northern Hemisphere will each grow a bit longer.  Can you feel it?

My poem today is not in a special form, and it does not rhyme.  To make it a poem, I did a few things.  You will note the line breaks, some lines holding only one word each.  These line breaks changed many times.  And I read the poem over and over again for rhythm and to select and reselect the very just-right words I needed.  You might notice some repeated sounds.  I love free verse poems, and I plan to write more of them in 2019 as they help me focus more carefully on techniques other than perfect rhyme and counted rhythm.

One line that I may come back to from this poem is you will find me.  I might write a poem saying, Next year/you will find me or Someday/you will find me...  You are welcome to borrow or adapt this line if you like it. I often borrow lines from poems I like.

If you wish, you may learn more about the winter solstice at Wonderopolis.  Who knows...we may be standing outside in our colorful woolens at the same time tonight.  There will be a full moon and a meteor shower too, so it's a big night.

Buffy is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Buffy's Blog with a bit more about the winter solstice and a lovely book recommendation. This community is here and sharing poems and poemlove every Poetry Friday, and everyone is invited to visit, comment, and post.  And if you have a blog, we welcome you to link right in!

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