The Winter's Tale

Gloomy winter. Sluggish day.
Book and blanket. Cold at bay.
I felt hints of ennui.
The wind tapped on the window pane.
Like caffeine molecules in the brain
It broke my reverie.


I emerged for an evening stroll.
Like an orange smear in a violet bowl
The horizon was aflame.
The lofty tree by the red brick house
Rustled its leaves, swayed its boughs,
And whispered out my name.


Such fondly wondrous tales it told
Lush, fragrant, with colors bold
Like a kaleidoscope.
As sunshine wrapt the city pale
In a gold-woven gossamer veil,
I saw a glimmer of hope.


My sunken spirits took a leap.
With intrepidity my heart did steep.
I was finally ready for this.
"Winter will be mesmerizing,"
I told myself romanticizing
The white, snowy bliss.


I felt a sudden surge - a spree -
An intense gush - of poesy
(What a charming season!)
When a sudden gust of the friendly breeze
Ushered in that pioneering sneeze.
(What a stolid act of treason!)


Kleenex tissue. Chicken soup.
Like a variable in an infinite loop,
The sneezing refused to pause.
Winter's beauty was promptly forgotten.
As I told myself "This season is rotten!"
And pointed out its flaws.


Back I am in my cozy nook.
Warm again, with blanket and book
As the nasty virus I fight.
Ruddy-nosed I curse the chill,
Reach out for another Benadryl
As doggerel verse I write!