unheated attic --
window lace frosted inside,
     icicle bars outdoors
--Dorothy McLaughlin, from
Connecting Our Houses, 1997
~~

mid-January
receiving the November-
December issue
~~

trapped
inside
her Ford Escape
~~

the clap of thunder--
a flock of starlings
where the robins were
~~

in a swollen river
a freighter and a pickup
which doesn't belong?
~~

winter sky
on the end of the high branch
a clump of leaves
~~

c 2014, lovepat press

New Year's goals, resolutions. . . (breaking)

FOLLY

Most new year's resolutions fade,
for we will trade
most anything
keep a-wing
of long-held habits--dark, entrenched--
although to quench
them, we apply
the old standby:
our annual resolutions ploy--
a mere decoy.
We'll never change,
just rearrange.

from variations, 1994, PL
~~

in the silence
hearing resolutions
breaking

from New Year's Project, 2006, PL
~~

a five-year plan
that changed
every day

from  the late  Dion O'Donnol's
day to day:a haiku year, 2002
~~

A GOOD NEW YEAR TO YOU

mailboxes
barely clear of holiday cards--
IRS greetings
~~

New Year's week
pink top of hyacinth
emerges from the leaves
~~

lighting a candle--
kitchen match burns on and on
into blackness
~~

child at the window
the sun's strange effect
on icicles
~~

the cardinal
among the gray birds
on the snow
~~

trip from Florida
his Honda hits an ice patch
goodbye, car
~~
c lovepat press 2014

LAST WEEK OF THE YEAR

THREE KWANZAA CANDLES
PURPOSE, FAITH AND UNITY
INNER SPIRIT-FRUITS
~~

mugs of cocoa
steam rising
marshmallows sink
---Dorothy McLaughlin, NJ
~~

plump and promising
yet the Christmas tangelo
all pulp and big seeds
---Dion O'Donnol, CA

family iced out
her first Christmas alone
at age eight-eight
~~

a constant droning
the day after Christmas
neighbor's ATV
~~

cardinal watches
five-foot snowman's
red hat and scarf
---Sue Watson, AR
~~

snow-covered aspen
ravens rest on every limb
black leaves of winter
---LaVern McCarthy, OK

Nearly Christmas

ice
silences
his wind chime
~~

sleet-covered
newspaper sack
proof of a new round
~~

mid-December
sitting outside among
the Christmas decor
~~

Winter
solstice near. Night
sky's few stars glittery,
silent--unlike the traffic here
below.
~~

transplanted mum
loses all its leaves
pink flowers remain
~~

Poems on today's monthly calendars

crest wind-ruffled
yet the blue jay keeps calling--
unseasonably cold
        from "Connecting Our Houses"--1997
~~
gave Christmas letters
a bad name ... 2,000 words
mostly "I," "me," "my"
        from "Poems for December: Found & Otherwise" --2002
~~

only a few more
"Behave yourself" days
until Christmas
      from "Dynamic December"--2003
~~

"... freak about Christmas,"
she said. "Every flat surface
gets decorated."
        from "a branch of red leaves"-- 2005
~~

in the south window
a spider web and Windex
await my action
        from "in front of the moon" -- 2010
~~

massive oak limb
    crushing
the antique fence
        from "rising to the top" -- 2012
~~
PL, dba lovepat press

Poems from other Decembers

after the dentist
no holiday money
Feliz Navidad
~~

leafless tree
a pair of walnuts
and the squirrel
~~

art-class Yule tree
flashing in the window
shaped, tinseled coat hangers
~~

dressed to the nines
for the season's first party
her unkempt nails
~~

on my walk
turning into the icy
westerly
~~

winter sun
through the patio window
his palm print
~~