"winter's kiss..."

the house was cold that morning as the snow fell
wrapping saturday in a mantle of stillness
filled with an unspoken promise, we held 
our breath, and crept beyond the threshold 
tiptoeing through the silence hoping the magic 
of it all would stretch beyond the dawn

armed with books, and cups of steaming tea, 
we crawl back in between pillows and quilts, 
to steep ourselves in poetry and prayer
crossword puzzles and the breathing
of old walls beneath the soft glow of lamplight 
slipping between the folds of vintage fabrics 
my grandmother once stitched for a son's 
first year at college or a niece's wedding night 
before he went to war

i will dream in stanza's as morning  
slips into a sunless day
and all that calls me towards tomorrow 
hibernates beneath a blanket of hushed demands 
and the stunned surprise of a silence unsought 
and as dusk arrives and snow still sifts
through a darkening sky like powdered sugar 
I'll whisper a sigh of gratitude 
serenely sweet 
for winter's kiss of suspended time