I was inspired to write this poem while sitting on the toilet with a pretty severe hangover the day after my birthday and the morning after seeing Filter play in Seattle. I was looking at a book of dream interpretation and it said that dreaming of December meant that you would gain great wealth but lose a loved one in doing so. That intrigued me.
Somewhere between Seattle and Vancouver the poem wrote itself in my mind while my head leaned against the window for cold comfort. Since then it has been used by my old high school teacher in his AP English exams. Pretty cool I think. Nothing like a bunch of smart kids explaining what you meant while you were half-drunk on the can.
DREAMING OF DECEMBER
The long ride leaves me
Dreaming of December.
The shadows of heavy clouds,
The echo of melancholy piano keys
Lead me onward and away.
Hills once caressed by smooth sunlight
Turn inward under their icy coats
With their backs against frost
covered canvas of still warm fields
Left alone for now,
Stoic and forgotten,
depressing the uninspired.
I was told it should be spring,
Yet I am blind to the budding
And blooming lost between
Bouts of mists of rain.
What might I lose but you
If I forget the words to your song
Or the colors of your sky
Even the fruits that fall
Against the ground
Beneath your tree
Taste sour when you leave.
Remember my face
When you look at his,
And know how poor
I will always be.
