Sundog and The Upland Pines III

27 poems of the North 20

by Sydney Giovenco

Snowflakes are falling on the aspens
(Lost their leaves in November);
Their long and slender trunks
Are tightly closed now,
Shutting out the arctic wind
Under a gray sky.

Their upward bended branches
Make music in the snowy night,
They serenade the Upland
On these nights full of December.

Their haunting chants are heard
All through the winter months:
January of the frozen church bells,
February of the gray Sunday afternoons,
And
March of the syrup-giving maples.

Snowflakes are settling on the aspens;
An inclement Autumn left — leaving
Frozen ponds in August;
Crystalized air in September;
And snow-covered fields in November.

Snowflakes are falling in the aspens ...
It is five in the morning
And songs of the North
Are heard by Candle light;
December — ‘Santa Lucia’ at dawn.