Winter Rubaiyat

Poetic Bloomings has set us the task of writing a Rubàiyàt This sample verse from the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam translated by Edward Fitzgerald leapt out at me:

Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring
The Winter garment of Repentance fling;
The Bird of Time has but a little way
To fly – and Lo! the Bird is on the Wing.

so my own  tentative attempt wishes I too could fling the winter garment of repentance!

***

Oh, how I long to fling
away the scarf and hat and gloves and things
along with winter boots.
to show the world the glory Spring can bring.

Why are we so affected by the seasons?
Introspective winter supplies a reason
to recoil from the world and snuggle down
under a quilt to nurse my grievance.

Spring brings us to unsettled times
when poets search for subtle rhymes
of joy and angst, romantic stirring,
striving to avoid the clichéd lines.

Summer comes to drive us wild
with weather sometimes wet and mild
at others feeling far too hot;
or sunshine’s benison withheld.

The colours of Autumn bring beauty
but also remind us: back to duty.
Holidays are over, work to be done –
that’s when we sulk and go all moody.

Before you know it year’s end comes
to send us back into the doldrums
Searching out our winter warmers
to accompany those Christmas songs.

Shivering before the wild wind
dreading the usual cold pre-destined
trying not to wish away the time,
stay positive, determined.