Janus, Roman God of January by Rick Doble

 Janus 

 the Roman two-headed god 

 of cold January 

 looks both ways 

 to the past 

 and to the future 

 the year beginning and ending 

Patterns of frost on a window.

 He is the god 

 of doors 

 gateways 

 passages and 

 transitions 

 dead trees with the promise of leaves 

 He stares into the distance 

 at the still cold point 

 of the sun's travel 

A depiction of another ancient god associated with the passage of time, the winged primordial Greek god Chronos who was the god of time, illustrating the flight of time or that time flies. "The triumphs of Petrarch. The triumph of time; Chronos as a winged figure with two crutches riding on a cart drawn by two stags to right; accompanied by figures ordered according to their age, from young children at right to an old man at left; in right background two children with a walking-frame; from a series of six engravings. c.1539 Engraving." British Museum 

"Chronos [ED: the ancient Greek god of time] as a winged figure
with two crutches riding on a cart" an hour glass at his feet
(detail from the above engraving).

Text, editing, research & design by Rick Doble. All images are from commons.wikimedia.org unless otherwise noted.