Winter Sanctuary

The velvety warmth of a fireside cuddle - creamy skin musks wrapped in a sensual blanket of softly spiced Feuille de Vanille and delicate kisses of ginger mint, French lavender, and dried Somali rose petals For January I give you vests of skins, And mighty fires in hall, and torches lit; Chambers and happy beds with all things fit; Smooth silken sheets, rough furry counterpanes; And sweetmeats baked; and one that deftly spins Warm arras; and Douay cloth, and store of it; And on this merry manner still to twit The wind, when most his mastery the wind wins. Or issuing forth at seasons in the day, Ye'll fling soft handfuls of the fair white snow Among the damsels standing round, in play: And when you all are tired and all aglow, Indoors again the court shall hold its sway, And the free Fellowship continue so. by Dante Gabriel Rossetti Art: In Bed, The Kiss by Henri Toulouse, 1892