On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me…
Twelve lads a hunting
Eleven grannies quilting
Ten mandolins strumming
Nine fiddlers fiddling
Eight rivers running
Seven catfish swimming
Six hound dogs baying
Five black walnut trees
Four hoot owls callin’
Three white tail deer
Two snapping turtles
And
A possum in a persimmon tree
pewter painted sky
streaked by swirling flakes
landscape softened by drifts of solstice snow
obscured palette of sepia tones
grayed bark with browned limbs
thorny holly entwined by tender ivy
symbols of life in the midst
of certain death
ivy twisted holly crown
to wear in the winters dance
renewing the world
evergreen and evermore
thecourseofourseasons 