Absence of Flowers

A gray blue pallor
Settles on the empty white;
Everything is still.

Patiently waiting
Snow shovel leans on the front wall
Secure in its use.

A web of branches
On the forsythia bush--
Absence of flowers.

Black birds on a branch;
Dark and motionless shadows;
Then spring into flight.

On filthy snow bank
Two tiny ice plants spring up:
Seasonal flowers.

The road is empty
Of animals, cars and bugs;
Just me and the crow caws.

Bleached beige by the sun
Dried leaf lies on the snow bank.
(Has no place to go)

Naked and slender
Plants stick up from the snow floor:
Skeleton garden.

Outside empty house
A welcoming light still burns
To all who enter.

Among the sumacs
Two birds join the silhouettes;
Perfect camouflage.