<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Winter Solstice</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22px;" class=""><b class=""></b><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22px;" class=""><b class=""></b><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Winter lifts her sleek baton</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">poised for the overture</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">but for now her orchestra</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">lies dormant in the chill</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">staccato rhythms printed</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">on the lake are still,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">the timpani within its hold,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">the rosined bows,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">the bushes dressed in crystal chimes</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">stand ready for their cues.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Water holds no blueprints for her fantasies,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">but she can shoulder up a battery of bunkers</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">glowing from the inside with otherworldly light.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">And what display of drapery is this,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">the pleated snow arrested at the</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">south end of the slide.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Water in abeyance, suspended in transition,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">your season of crystal innovations</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">may be brief, your intricate blossoms</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">readily recaptured by the sun,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">but oh, how they dazzle before they run.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Barbara Armstrong</div></div></body></html>