Path is slippery;
All the ice has disappeared
Leaving water skin.









Tracks criss cross the field;
Soon they will melt in the sun--
January thaw.

Sparkling in the sun,
Stream carries the melting snow--
Persistent water.

Snow bank and the fence
Meet at the side of the road.
(And the fence buckles).

From imprisoned woods
Shots echo through the chain link fence.
Do they shoot poachers?

With the melting snow
Forest path is revealed first
Worn by ghostly feet.











Cold at the road's bend
Winter's trapped in the valley.
I treck up to warmth.

A bucket of warmth
Billows out upon the road
Caressing my cheeks.

Hiding in the tree
A dark heart peers from the bark:
Early Valentine.