Door County Writes: ‘Nearing Solstice 2020’

Poetry by Sharon Auberle

for James and Jonah

twin boys arrived in the world today
conceived and born in this terrible year
what joys and sorrows I wonder
will their days hold in these times
of plague    burning    war

yet at sunset tonight under brooding skies
there appeared at the last moment
a few ribbons of gentle rose
something like hope
for a brighter tomorrow?

I think of my grandmother
and her forecasting as she looked
to the red sky at evening 
sailors delight she would smile 
in spite of the terrors
her world held in those days

Winter is late this year
the great waters remain unfrozen
there is no snow to hide ugliness

the season’s magic has yet to take hold
still delight remains –
the miracle of newborn babes
sweet scent of pine and wassail bowl
that unnameable something in the air

like hope …

Sharon Auberle is a poet and photographer who served as Door County’s 2017-19 poet laureate. She has written a number of books, including her most recent, Dovetail.It’s a book of sketches and poems co-authored with poet and artist Jeanie Tomasko that won the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets’ Chapbook of the Year award. Auberle continues to write and take photos, inspired by her love of the land, trees and waters of this stunningly beautiful place where she gets to live.