Monday March 5 2007

Horses Running in Snow

3x13 Oil Painting

By Lynn Thomas

AUTUMN IMAGES
Lynn Thomas
Big Sandy

First snowfall of autumn covers mountain and meadow
With powder, deep and soft.
Robin egg skies, cerulean shadows under the pines
Chickadees flit through boughs that cradle snow
And puffs of misty white are released in mini avalanches
To tumble down through the tree.
Diamond crystals twirl through clear air.
The last of the aspen leaves
Lay on the new snow in many shades of gold
Bare limbs wait to embrace winter’s storms.
Snowshoe hare trails curl over the windblown drifts
And intertwine with moose tracks.
Around naked red willows
Summer’s seed heads stand above the snow
Encrusted with silvery frost.
The horses all have turned from slick to fluffy
With the changing season.
They paw through the snow to the grasses beneath.
Each one carries a coating of ice on their backs
And their frosty breath
Creates a mist around the herd.
The beavers strengthen their dam and
Carry limbs for winter stores.
Their brilliant wake on the pond scatters
Reflections of snow-covered peaks.
Cold starry darkness, good for the elk hunt.
Every night the ice on open water closes in tighter
Long icicles hang under the eves
Transparent, sparkling, dripping
Twisted at an angle by the storm winds.
Sunny warmth both creates and destroys them
Fence wires are frosted with hoary crystals.
Wind moans through branches
Accompanied by bulging challenge of the herd sire.
Carrying armloads of firewood
frigid air takes your breath away.
As night falls it’s a comfort
to lay with my back to the fire
Dogs stretched out nearby, their fur drying.
Steam rises from wool clothes, boots and gloves.
We listen to the silence……
And to the crackling logs.

~