The Winter Sonnets

The Doorkeeper's Song

The Doorkeeper's Song

The star-filled sky looks down with silent eyes
upon the turning world that slumbers deep.
Mid-winter’s snowy blanket once more lies
upon the earth like wool upon the sheep.

The lunar year has at last run its course.
Time’s pathway has been traversed as before.
The carefree cries of summer have grown hoarse
as we approach the new year’s open door.

Janus, the doorway keeper, bids welcome
through the wintery gate that bears his name.
He sees both distant past and what’s to come
though he’s no longer thought of with acclaim.

Each year his name flows ‘cross a thousand lips
while its true meaning's lost in time’s eclipse.