Even Stumps Have Caps

Slight breath of warmth
Hangs in the winter air;
Contented hen clucks.

Long shadows extend
Across the flattened snow field--
Two two dimensions.

Soft, rounded snow dune
By the side of the still stream
Basks in the bright sun.

Snow plow and the snow
Conspire against the young pine
Who bows to their weight.










Woodpecker's rattle
Crescendos in the forest;
Distant rooster crows.

Long slender fingers
Of a desiccated pine
Hang from a branch.











Even stumps have caps,
Hemisphered and winter white
To keep the cold in.












In just one moment
Gray clouds drift across the sun
Darkening the road.