We just got through a February in Ottawa that was the coldest ever recorded in this part of the world. Our daily average low temperature was a frigid -21 c. It seemed appropriate to me to put a long, cold winter in its place with a terse form of verse. I chose Haiku. Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry, three lines of unrhymed verse, normally in the pattern of five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables respectively. There are many ways we try to keep winter at bay but perhaps poetry is the least prosaic way of all. I have included a few written by my wife Monique (noted in the text). The rest are my own.

May these simple lines assist you to awake from your frozen slumber to a Spring that will undoubtedly dawn… sometime… we hope.

Winter Haiku

Shovel snow today
Shovel tomorrow; repeat
Sisyphus digs it

Frozen face and hands
Imagine how cold I’d be
If I was outside

Groundhog is sleeping
Just leave him alone already
He knows nothing
(Monique)

Hundred words for snow
They say the Inuit have
They only have four
(Monique)

My butt is frozen
How’s that even possible?
It’s insulated
(Monique)

Chickadees thrive here
Tiny feathery fluff balls
Without furnace heat

Too cold for the geese
Though Canadian they be
Is too friggin’ cold

The lake is ice hard
But soon we’ll cut through it with ease
Doing the backstroke
(Monique)

We skate on a lake
Where just a few months ago
We were swimming
(Monique)

Layers of flannel
Wool socks, three blankets, too
Makes making love hot

Winter’s grip is hard
Its breath is sheer bitterness
It needs to chillax

We gripe and complain
Yet without Jack’s Frostiness
There’s no Great White North

When comes the icing
The ponds and lakes and rivers
Become hockeyland

My cold car won’t start
But it’s tough to get upset
It needs a day off

You can see my breath
The only visible sign
That I’m still alive

The days get shorter
While frigid nights get longer
Sun is so precious

Shimmering display
Nature crowned with white glory
Beauty can be cold

It’s hard to believe
Beneath the snowy stratum
Lies Spring awaiting