You stop at the gate
And watch my candle go
From room to room
Measuring what remains.
Copyright Kay Winter
Sleeping inside while pretending to be awake
The afternoon passes and dusk falls
Still I sleep, eyes open.
Someone draws the curtains
And clicks a lamp on.
Still I sleep.
The stars outside awaken
Nothing will happen here
If I go.
Sleep falls into me.
The roof above me is gone
The stars are singing ancient songs
To captains in prayer
And those in flight
Star to star they sing
And I, a star now, too
With voice of light
Sing too.
Set your course by me
For this season only
Or remain
Forever
Lost.
We appeared only to vanish
Away from all spaces that held our light
Into trees dark with melting snow
Into the thawing black waters of the creek
Into the brief and blazing sunsets
That sank away into night.
A star made in imitation
Of an ancient sign
Journeys begun unexpectedly
After long waiting
What gifts will we bring?
Up early enough
For the morning moon
Branches bare
We have come
An impossible distance
Copyright Kay Winter
Shadows and landscape edges
The troll face of trickery and treats
The year about to get lost
Crossing into dark woods
Passage, shadow, mystery, magic
Copyright Kay Winter
The sky opens behind the path of the year
Waiting for me to cross or follow
Change, chance, opportunity
Green going and snow coming.
We’ll leave things behind us
The spaces where we were
In summer
the lake water folding over our shoulders
Summer rain running off our fingertips into the earth.
A footprint in the August sand
like the goose in snow.
Copyright Kay Winter