Still Life, V1

Silence is the music of winter

Memories, the gifts that it brings

The frost, the crisp sort that clings

to what remains of autumn’s leaves.

Radiant red berries of a thriving holly

An abundance of mistletoe in the

naked limbs of a now-bare fruit tree

Snow-frozen fountains outside

the Tower of London.

Inside, friends arrive to warmth

for chapped cheeks and gather

in the parlor where three red candles

rest on river rock in a slate grey fireplace

In winter, I remember

to surrender

to still life