It sifts from Leaden Sieves –
from It sifts from Leaden Sieves by Emily Dickenson
It powders all the Wood.
It fills with Alabaster Wool
The Wrinkles of the Road –
Welcome Winter!
For our December’s Mindful Poetry session, we wrapped ourselves in winter and enjoyed the sensory delights of the season, whether with the cavorting birds on iced telephone wires in Mary Oliver’s poem Starlings in Winter, or with children keen on building an empire of snow in Billy Collins’ poem, Snow Day. We relished past memories of ice skating and Christmas card deliveries, and contemplated how we bring closure to another year by reading Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem, Burning the Old Year. And finally, with inspiration from a snow-wrapped photo, we wrote a winterscape poem through a round-robin format. Enjoy our collective creation below!
Explore additional resources for these poets:
Ted Kooser bio and more at The Poetry Archive; a 6-minute Listen from NPR with Mary Oliver; and On Being’s Krista Tippett interviews Naomi Shihab-Nye.
Our Round-Robin Poem…
| Margo | Winter with the mirror in the center, |
| Mountains guard with houses. | |
| Brian | Blurred water reflects our own clinging to the hillside, |
| Susie | Icy edges snaking through frost-covered reflections. |
| Terra | Our little town full of windows; |
| Lori | Butter buildings offer subtle light to warm. |
| Mark | (I can’t seem to find my woolen gloves, |
| But here is the book I lost last summer.) | |
| Rosemarie | Time to throw another log on the fire. |
| Becky | Where’s the dinner promised oh so long ago? |
| Sylvia | Pull those little noses away from the steamed glass, |
| No ice on the river for skating today! |
Mindful Poetry usually meets the fourth Tuesday of each month at 6pm PT, via Zoom.
Our Curator and Guide:
Poetry has been a life-long passion and solace for Rebecca Echert-Lennstrom. The beauty and playfulness of verse captured her heart early and became a well-spring of reflection and inspiration. For the last 25 years, she’s been sharing that love with high school students as an English teacher and creative writing instructor, steeped in words and imagery. She’s coached students in the National Poetry Out Loud Competition for ten years, paired with professional poets in the classroom to inspire student writing, and published high school creative writing magazines. This is her second year curating the Mindful Poetry Series as a ministry of the Episcopal Church.