Winter Conjuring

A Quintain in 4 stanzas

Winter Conjuring

Church bells muffled on Sunday

Whispered almost silent as people glide in to pray

Inclement weather conditions toll a long good-bye

Blizzards come with mounds of snow on a somber curve

The fallen collect themselves inside as worried souls

Leaves completely freed from trees become detached

Cannibalized by savage storms clawing at their back

Long stripped of life they could not last the hour

Too weak, crisp, loud, to cover up or hide in quiet

Laid naked, bare, lost innocence and mystery devoured

Oaks stand like towers emptied of themselves

Hollowed out holes by age that grow no more

Webbed fingers jut, twisted from the middle

In competition with the holy house in white

December stretches to the distance warped

Trees become skeleton warriors fighting back

Howling winds wrapped in Winter sin

Blowing south on holiday wishes cold

The congregation leans in to sing a carol

They fill in spaces made by Christmas conjuring