Pastels of Winter

Not a ray of sun;
Gray clouds on the white blue snow--
Pastels of winter.

 

Brown branches stick up;
Forsythia under snow.
(When will yellow come?)

 

Mist takes over trees,
Weaving fog into branches;
Mourning dove calls out.

Growing from the road--
Spiky plants pierce the pavement;
Life is persistent.

Bent back by the snow,
Pushed, twisted and torn apart,
This fence keeps standing.

Two crows are chatting;
An airplane joins the chatter--

Invisible sounds.

The small green sapling
Grows next to the giant fir.
(Perhaps its mother)

On slender branches
Small drops of water glisten;
Trapping brief sunlight.

But No One Answers

Is this dreary morn
A portent of a day of gloom?
(I want the sunshine).

 

How can white be gray?
How can the trees be so still?
So many questions.

 

Tipped over on snow
Red lawn chair through my back screen;
There since last summer.

Two newspapers lie;
Two days without a pickup:
Presence of absence.

 

 Against the thick clouds
Silhouetted skeletons--
Trees grab for the sky.

In the thick gray sky
A crow calls repeatedly
But no one answers.

Straight lines in the sky--
Geometry on mountain--
Electric wires.

The standing ladder;
What a patient implement;
It just stands and waits.

 

Small Shiny Babies

Hanging icicles
Capture and refract the light--
Frozen rays of sun.

 

 Pick up truck drives past
Like a proud rolling puppy.
(What am I saying?)

Footprints in the ice;
Shiny package on driveway;
Blue sky and puffed clouds.

 Shade tree in the snow
Keep the sunlight from the ground,
Showing us the earth.

 

 The bend in the road;
What is behind it this time?
Never can be sure.

 

In this brightened air
Fingers freeze when gloves are off.
But I feel alive!

 

Brown and green pine trees
Stand together in the woods--
Life/Death side by side.

Sucking the maple
Plastic bottles wait for sap--
Small shiny babies.

Yesterday's Snow Storm

 

Yesterday's snow storm
Forgotten in today's sunshine.
(You just never know).

 

Flecks of bright snow fall
From the laden pine branches;
Porch needs shoveling.

Shadow on snow hill;
Two dimensions lie on three;
(How many is that?)

 

The broken tree trunk
Leaning against its neighbor
Waiting out its days.

Thick soft snow clumps fall,
Torn from the trees by the wind,
Blowing loud and cold.

Tiny pine saplings,
Each weighed down by globs of snow
In the wood's shadows.

In the mottled woods
Sawed trees lie in the shadows;
Sunlight trickles through.

Loud dog barking car
Approaches me on the hill.
Never needs a horn.

Coming from Nowhere

Although the sun is bright
And the pine trees sway gently--
Freezing cold outside.

Inside, it's cozy;
Outside, the icy sun waits;
Two worlds side by side.

In front of my house
A towering maple tree stands.
(I never look up).

A blue bird rises up
And melts into the pine trees,
Lost to light and sound.

Icy wind blowing
Up the shadow mottled road
Echoes in the woods.

The sky is so blue;
The sun is so icy bright;
My cheeks are so cold.

My doggy friend, Bella
Gives me a joyous greeting
(And joyous farewell).

Silent woods singing
Its super sonic chorus
Coming from nowhere.

Bars of the old fence
Cannot imprison the shadows.
They escape daily.

"Our Road" the sign says;
"Whose road is that?" you might ask.
"Our Road" the sign says.