The shortest day:
dusk falls like a stone to earth.
Yellow, with greenness of lemons in it.
Carpet of snow the long night,
a lopped pelt, dog or wolf.
Yet, light in unexpected places.
“I have come through.”
My house, a traveller returned,
baring the small, lit window of its heart.
In-gathering of holly, conifer,
red berries for birds’ beaks.
Mistletoe and kindling,
incense of forests,
these mists, floating among us.
(from Overwintering)
Pippa Little lives in Northumberland by way of East Africa, Scotland, Manchester, Essex and London. Her work is widely published in print and online. The Spar Box (Vane Women) was a PBS Pamphlet Choice and Overwintering will be published by Oxford Poets/Carcanet Press in October 2012.
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