A Winter Solstice Night Poem by Vidya Pandarinath

The deep -dark, rough blanket of the night

Covers the world over, rigid and tight

With chill outside this room compact;

Closed and withdrawn senses intact,

Choosing to set into a frozen state,

And gain the cosy sleep though not late;

A little away the salient, orchestra bawl -

Of the frogs, cricket sand the restless owl -

Charges the nearby pond and all around,

With a strange blend of pain, vein and sound;

All reluctant restraint turns futile indeed

And the unbeaten quacks and croaks, the hoot-heed

Supplant the tired sleep and goad the fancy

To gallop across the unseen land of portent chancy;

One often wonders why cold gloom and weird muse

Obsess the sane, hale mind and confuse

The mass of fear, loss and the harm covert

Lies amidst the cold darkness and the defence, curt..! ?