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Come Winter, Come

Come Winter, come. Lay this body down to rest.
A squalling wind is blowing, north by northwest;

__And every tree a bower
__In Nature’s darkest hour,
__And every creature deep
__In hibernation sleep;

And how I yearn for peaceful, calm repose! So come,
Dear season, cover me in hibernaculum.

.

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Cheryl Corey’s recent credits include the current issue of Iconoclast and www.grand-little-things.com. Other publications include Iambs & Trochees, Deronda, The NeoVictorian/Cochlea, The Comstock Review, Mobius, and Time of Singing. In 2007 she received 1st Place for the Dylan Thomas Award and Honorable Mention for the June Kraeft Memorial Award in The World Order of Narrative and Formalist Poets contest.

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12 Responses

  1. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Your marvelous poem has given me the urge to crawl into a warm cave in ursine splendor during these dark, dank months. I like the intriguing form and the word “hibernaculum” is delicious. Thank you, Cheryl.

    Reply
    • Cheryl Corey

      Perhaps the world would be a better place if humans went into hibernation for a few months.

      Reply
  2. Paul Freeman

    Sometimes the short ones are some of the best.

    I’m off to join the squirrels.

    Thanks for the read, Cheryl.

    Reply
  4. Brian Yapko

    I enjoyed this poem very much, Cheryl, though we are presently experiencing a 5 degree below zero windchill in my neck of the woods! I love your use of hibernaculum, which I had to look up! The structure of your poem is really interesting. Couplets but with varying meters and stresses. Is this a form you have created? Is there a deeper meaning here? It works well as a frame for your blustery winter subject.

    Reply
    • Cheryl Corey

      I didn’t set out to create a new form. It came to me very organically. I don’t know where you live, but here in CT it’s around 60, the sap’s rising and it’s breezy, which I ‘ll take over your 5 below, but tomorrow’s it’s back into the 30s with snow expected Friday. Winter’s not done with us yet.

      Reply
      • Brian Yapko

        It’s exceptional that you can create a new form organically and yet keep it within classical tradition! 60 degrees sounds awesome! I’m in Santa Fe, New Mexico and we have snow tonight, a low of 16 degrees along with blustery winds. I could use a hibernaculum.

  5. Martin Rizley

    I love poems about winter, especially those that contrast the gloom, howling winds and icy blast of the season with the cozy feeling of being tucked away in a warm hovel somewhere. Now I have a word for that warm hovel– hibernaculum! Short but enticing little poem that invites one to join in the poet’s invocation while burying oneself under a plush comforter for a long winter’s nap.

    Reply
  6. C.B. Anderson

    This poem was unlike anything I’ve ever read before, and I am very grateful for that. Let’s see whether you can replicate the effort toward yet another surprising end.

    Reply
  7. David Watt

    Cheryl, the form of your poem is intriguing, and works perfectly for the winter hibernation theme. The short lines of the central stanza bring the scene into focus and add intensity. Well done!

    Reply
  8. Norma Pain

    Cheryl, I love this warm, sleep-inducing winter poem. I must find my cozy blanket and slippers and sleep!

    Reply

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