Winter's Truth The clocks have not chimed
for a yore and a half
deep in the old town
where you and I grew up.
All gossamer webs now
inhabit what was our life
our pride, our soul and more.
Is the speaker alone or with someone else? Were they born there? Most likely, since ‘where you and I grew up’ together strongly suggests they spent their childhood in ‘the old town’. Each rickety step creaks
when I climb those boards
back to my childhood
full of life, and rivers
that ran deep with you.
Now it's just a mirage
of the highest magnitude.
Where exactly is the speaker? In his/her old house or maybe a clock tower? My guess is most likely his/her old house where he/she used to live. Each step he/she takes bring him/her back to his/her childhood memories.
A mirage is an illusion. However it is an illusion of something real and not created out of imagination. Just like his/her memories, they are real. Although he/she is unable to turn back the clock (The clocks have not chimed), they are part of his/her life. Will the dust overpower
the filaments within me
and dull my lights.
Clogging all my airways
with the musky scent
of the old times
and sweet preserves.
In this stanza the author provokes our senses with sight ‘and dull my lights’, smell ‘with the musky scent’ and taste ‘and sweet preserves’. And the cold winter wind
threatens to invade
the wooden cocoon
where i had halted
to take a breath
for they swirl like jets
bent on Earthly domination.
If this poem does not have a title the setting can be in Summer, Spring or Autumn. From the first three stanzas, there is no indication that the setting is in Winter. With the opening word ‘And’ in this stanza, it signals a change in setting.
Although there is no direct mentioning of warmth in the first three stanzas but I can’t help noticing words like ‘life’, ‘pride’, ‘soul’, ‘mirage’ (associated with desert) and ‘lights’. These words suggest passions, energies, hope, etc.
All these changes when
‘…the cold winter wind
threatens to invadeÂ’
An intrusion not welcome by the speaker. I give the old door
a weighted push
and the snow fell away and
I stepped out to the roof
watching the flakes float
like a ballerina's
encore.
My life and yours,
could time be so finite
like the creamy snow,
the grave of snowflakes
past.
Is this supposed to be one or two stanzas?
May I suggest dividing this into two with ‘My life and yours’ as the first line of the sixth stanza?
Where is the speaker now? Hmm … most likely he/she is at the rooftop. The second line ‘a weighted push’ reflects the feeling of the speaker, i.e. feeling heavy and sad.
But I have another interpretation i.e. out of breath.
This is because if you read the following line ‘and the snow fell away and’ you can't help feeling a sense of continuous/motion. By placing the word ‘and’ at the beginning and the end of the line, the author forces you to proceed to the next line.
One of the reasons why I suggested breaking this stanza into two is because this last stanza (sixth) concludes the whole poem, past, present and future. It also reminds us of the title of the poem i.e. ‘Winter’s Truth’.
Lastly, this is the first time I see someone describing ‘creamy snow’ as ‘the grave of snowflakes past’. Cool.
By the way the person describe as ‘you’ in the poem, is he/she alive at that particular moment?