Hello and welcome to the Daily Poem. I'm Heidi White, and today is Monday, December 27th.

Today I'm going to read for you a poem by American poet Eleanor Wiley. She was born in 1885 and lived until 1928.

She was a poet and a novelist and very popular in her own time. And today's poem is called

Velvet Shoes. And this is how it goes. Let us walk in the white snow in a soundless space,

with footsteps quiet and slow at a tranquil pace under veils of white lace.

I shall go shod in silk and you in wool, white as white cow's milk,

more beautiful than the breast of a gull.

We shall walk through the still town in a windless peace

We shall step upon white down

Upon silver fleece upon softer than these

We shall walk in velvet shoes

Wherever we go

Silence will fall like dews on white silence below. We shall walk in the snow. I chose this poem for a couple of reasons. I had never read it before and a friend of mine, Karen, sent it to me yesterday. And I just thought it was so lovely. It was a bit of a Christmas gift, this poem

arriving in my inbox. And so I wanted to re-gift it, so to speak, to you and share it with you.

It really just captured my imagination. The second reason I chose this poem is because just

two days after Christmas, I have this great longing in my heart for peace.

You know, the holiday season is so fun.

There's so much to do.

There's so many people around.

There's so much good food and conversation and singing and presents and tradition.

And I love that.

But just a short while after the big day, I find myself

...