Poetry Series
Contents
White & Winter Winter 2023-24
Phantom Season October 2022
The Autumn Country September 2022
coming next summer Summer 2024
White & Winter
A new poem a day for December 2023
One new haiku or short poem a day ( & sometimes more) in December ~
a taste of gothic spirit, for the cold, white season of ghosts & memories.
January 1, 2024
winter morning, new year
black dog shakes stars from her back
snow keeps falling
31
I’ll always love the fog
on the low moor, wisps
in the frozen morning, phantoms
more forgiving
than the ghosts of deep night
silent forest
after the first snow
still as my home, this crypt
30
the silver light
the moon rains upon earth
when night is deepest
ice crystal air
opal wisps wind
among sparse branches
the sun too pale
to chase the fog
29
long grey walks
under white winter sky
quiet memories
the dead creep close
these silent nights
our guilt haunts us
28
Asomnia
awake by night
searching stars falling into snow
trying unfailingly to drown
to ease the lightning in my mind
but how the burning lights up the night
27
The dead always find their way
home. I feel the slick ice touch
across my skin, the famished
breath upon my neck, and I want
to hold on, but the air is empty and
loss is the sound
of my whispered name.
after the holiday
the house so wide
so still
it is so dark
there has never been
any such thing as the moon
26
stars like snow in space
you are missing
this dead midwinter
pines are specters
in the opalescent fog
this sorrowful winter
I have not been certain
where dreams end
25
nothing
can lull me to sleep
the sky bejeweled with embers
the night showered by the silver light
of Orion’s stars
yet within remains
the infinite dark
24
it’s the cold white season
of ghost stories
memories like ghosts
the dead creep closer
holding their broken hearts out to us
bleeding, in their bone white fingers
what angels gather here this liminal night
the earth is frozen to the far curve
and silent like a bird that has turned itself into sorrow
to flutter through the pines like a shush of snow
23
pumpkin and persimmon
became winter brown and bleak
I put my faith in the coldness
of the snow
I kneel to give dad his gift
a fresh Christmas wreath
propped on his gravestone
22
The Sixth
the sun rose over the mountain pines
this morning before being blanketed
by snow clouds and now it is quiet with the snow a stillness
like a shush of comfort I am a mountain child clouds
and hills rolling away below me like misremembered dreams
fresh fragrance of balsam and cedar juniper berries in my hands
snowflakes freeze in my open eyes and the clouds are still heavy
but I wonder where all the birds have gone
if there is another living creature here
I cannot see it
21
Blinded
looking out across Alps
brilliance of winter sun on ice blinding sight
I remember the pure endless snow
and you colder than mountains rolling in white
icy lies as hollow as a dead man’s sigh
the love I will never know
but I miss the light
nightmares
in the velvet dark
of the longest night
all the world dead
black and snow white
all the world
singing for the return
of the golden light
20
ghost stories
by firelight
I didn’t believe
until the dead of night
the light pales days
are dark and cold seeps
into bones waiting for light
19
black and white movies
inside, outside
white snow and black sky
white quilt of snow
first winter storm
covers their broken bones
18
going home with gifts
evening snowflakes decorate
my headlight beams
how I loved snow
on Black Forest pines
a candlelit Yule at home
17
my own ghost story
a bleak winter night, blizzard snow growing deep
my time ran out like so much sand
not even velvet winter darkness could hide me
that devil chased me down in the bitter cold
he took me by my frozen hand
and he put me to sleep
16
icy winter night
bitter voices or bitter wind
ghosts of memory
echo within
15
dark tea, a bright fire
against the winter chill
don’t we have it all
quiet winter evenings
she’s been gone
so long
14
I light all the candles
against the storm
that surrounds me
13
silent snow in the dead of night
stars like ice
winter spirits drawn in to rest
in the firelight
bitter wind bites to the very bone
this cold heart
brood not, the dead find a way in
you’re not alone
12
morning birdsong
after winter snow
a melody of cellos
11
the pines reach
to the stars
I’m lost
under this sky
10
rain hums the words I write
in the dead of night
I reach for the mourning moon
empty home
heavy rain
heavy heart
9
Lord of Misrule
white blood of cruel chill blight
creeps into bones cracked to bare marrow
devil of the bitter barren your burying brume
blankets our moments in resolute omens
your specter breath lies fast feel the frozen snap
obscures this shattered light so misled we wander
your soul a shell of absence soundless
hollow like the clear ice of a ghost apple
numbing glaze that hardens this ghastling earth
while dear birds die of hunger
8
winter tea of cinnamon
orange, cloves
this old spell for comfort
bright birds on white snow
memories of happiness
in this coldest place
7
Taker
you are a taker, you took
me by the throat, you took
my tongue, my wishes, you took
the life right out of me, took
your own soul, thrown into fire6
6
crystal ice
at the edge of the river
winter begins
stars above me
valley below me
loneliness absolute
5
autumn turns to winter
this life I live now
alone
photos on the floor
half remembered words
the weight of ghosts
4
Worse things
there are worse things
than your bloody wounds
there are worse things
than the blood in my veins
this obsession, like drowning
in a lake so long frozen over
there is no breaking through thick ice
to breathe air
3
silent night
I sing to mom
snow on her grave
2
Demonologist
In whose waters am I drowning?
Who among us will I save?
With what wine do I forget what I forgave?
In what tongue would I love you?
In whose land am I digging my grave?
1
silent forest
after the first snow
still as this crypt
witches circle
over the barren hill
silver winter moon
©Susan Zegarsky
Phantom Season
October 2022
One poem a day (or more) in honor of Halloween & Samhain as the veils between our world & the others grow thin.
31
last night
of a dark October
black magic in the air
30
this year we grieve
so many of us dead
autumn of phantoms
the ancient language slides
off forked tongues
night of the jinn
29
the dead whisper to me
cruel secrets
of the still living
28
one’s skin
can often be
ill fitting
swirl of falling leaves
don’t we
have it all
27
the palm reader
winces
at my life line
26
forest mists
haunting memories
so many specters of autumn
25
an evil unseen
lurks in October darkness
thieving souls
chips of bones
and broken headstones
grave robbing ghouls
24
there were no bodies
left whole enough
to bury
October night sky
all the light I see
is already dead
fast footsteps near
the scarecrow
runs
23
shadows prowl
the cool October night
ghosts of witch cats
22
shadows
of windblown leaves
all the Halloweens past
at the devil’s crossroads
I wait for him
under the wolf moon
21
alone in the woods
fast footsteps
across the cabin roof
all my bones
have turned
into screams
20
wind through the tombs
the quick approach
of ghouls
19
ecstatic bats
ride moonbeams
this magic October sky
18
sunny days long gone
it’s my autumn now
I am the crone
17
a chill in wind
the presence
of phantoms unseen
16
pouring a salt circle
to keep out
the unseen
15
the trickster smiles
oops, you’ve sold
your soul
14
the mirror
smiles back
what have I summoned?
13
mists cross the moor
rolling waves
of ghost sea
12
storm clouds, no moon
deep October dark
a devil is afoot
11
black clouds hide
October’s full moon
sinister omen
10
midnight wind whispers
a half-remembered
ghost story
9
something sinister
in autumn fog
the veil thins
8
rain on dead fields
tears for
the dying earth
7
my ghost awaits
in the dark folds
of velvet night
6
skeletons clapping
stark bare branches
clack in the autumn wind
5
scarlet leaves fall
drops of blood bright
on dark earth
4
crows, indigo waves
swell in shadows
of October forest
3
skeleton chuckles
the light chatter
of windblown leaves
2
darkness
black as ink, pierced
by eyes of stars
1
old ouija board
spelling the shadows
into life
©Susan Zegarsky
The Autumn Country
September 2022
One poem a day (or more) in honor of Autumn in her peace & beauty.
30
after autumn
remember I loved
the scarlet leaves
après-midi d’automne
je rêve de bisous
sous la pluie
29
autumn ends
it grows darker
inside and out
28
leaves tumbling away
the gusts
already winter cold
the wasp nest
is hollow now
like my autumn days
27
end of autumn
slate grey heavens
threaten rain
26
frost
black elm
red wet autumn
25
old woman
prays to autumn sky
tears of loneliness or rain
24
falcon
on the haystack
bittersweet autumn
23
observing
my nighttime wanderings
the owl and the moon
22
leaves born by wind
race the clouds
across barren fields
21
red leaves and friends
chatter
across the stone street
20
white owl bursts
into the autumn sky
which silver is the moon
19
early autumn thunder
rolls
over red hills
18
the moon
pierces autumn fog
with moonbeams of dreams
17
silent confidant
what companion more true
my silver autumn moon
j’aimerais vivre
où la lune est toujours blonde
est tu es loin de moi
16
my orange harvest moon
shares the night sky
with my dreams
15
autumn afternoons
daydreaming of kisses
under golden sun
14
behind the mountain
of scarlet trees
my orange harvest moon
13
gingko trees
harvest moon
golden autumn symphony
12
yellow butterfly
admires my autumn mums
of a lesser yellow
11
memories fall
in silent rain
tears of autumn
10
familiar comforts of autumn
a map of heaven
my heart memorized
9
waving in the wind
sunshine yellow mums
welcome autumn
8
at the forest’s edge
deer friend
enjoys autumn berries
remembering
how my black dog loved
jumping in autumn leaves
7
September sun
I bathe in warmth
to carry through winter
6
autumn morning awakening
sunbeams, the smell of maple
and pumpkin spice
ruby, garnet, gold
amber, citrine, sapphire
the bright riches of autumn
5
warm light
brisk wind
September sings again
4
haunting melody floating
in fall night air
unseen coyotes following me
mes rêves rayonnants
n’étaient jamais aussi muet que
mon automne mourant
3
sunlit memories
of long ago autumns
my only treasures
2
yellow leaves tumble
through golden sunbeams
September smiles
Chanceuse
le hululement du hibou
le vol des chauve-souris
la lueur des étoiles filantes
mille bénédictions de ce monde
que je comprends à peine
ou pas du tout
1
bright yellow leaves wave
at clear blue skies
beloved September mornings
©Susan Zegarsky
A new poem a day coming soon for Summer 2024
Summer 2024
One poem a day (or more) with that easy feeling of summer, of being young & full of hope.
Coming soon!
©Susan Zegarsky
A new Horror poem a day coming soon for Autumn 2024
Autumn 2024
One horror poem a day (or more) to chill your bones & peel your skin.
Coming soon!
©Susan Zegarsky