January

By Louise Binder Scott

Snow is like white frosting spread

Over lawns and hillsides steep.

It makes a soft and woolly quilt

And puts the earth to sleep.

Oh, paint me a picture of January.

Make it pretty, and make it merry.

Put in some snowdrifts piled to the skies.

Put in some icicles giant in size.

Put in some oak trees covered with white.

Put in Jack Frost; let him work through the night,

Weaving lace patterns on windows and ground,

Painting his pictures with never a sound.

Put in some mittens and warm winter clothes.

Put in some sweaters to wear when it snows.

Put in a winter wind whistling and loud.

Put in some skis, enough for a crowd.

Put in hot, buttered popcorn and pancakes and toast—

All the cold-winter menus that we like the most.

Put in snowbirds and squirrels and skies that are clear,

And I’ll say to you, “A HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

Illustrated by Shauna Mooney