Winter's Shawl of Song

That solstice night,
    new words floated down,
like scintillant crystals,
    delicate and magic petals of snow
their cold to sizzle the ground

with sylvan sounds of enthralling warmth
    as each word-flake blended, fused to one --
a single blanket to embrace us all
     with a tenderness of heart
winter's shawl of song.

And in a second, from our moonlit sky,
    crisp and curious letters
diamonds of stars
     pierced the dark      a frisson
of frozen sparks to jolt the air,

to announce one quick skirring
    of ideas -- their skein of thoughts --
as clouds opened, transformed
    my mind, sang loud of Neruda,
his loves, their chirrs, his beckoning.

Before that winter evening
    I never knew the purity of poems
or stark whiteness of snow --
    could never guess their deep,
their gentle kindness.