Long Winters Ago

I go for my walk;
Stella is in the same place
Each time I return.










A soft cold wind blows;
I think of walking to school
Long winters ago.

Laurie's stone pillars
Guard the long road to her house
Past the now mute barn.

Jogger far ahead
Disappears around the bend--
A dark illusion.









The first flakes of snow
Whip from the overcast sky
And land on my coat.

A few errant flakes
Under a darkening sky
Portend the future.

A clump of dead leaves
Sways gently in the tree top
As the rough wind blows.










The two horned tree stump
Sits in the woods like a cat
Waiting for a wood mouse.









Two small oases:
Fir trees protection
Bare ground in the snow.