Heading Who Knows Where?

                                                      From  walk of February 22, 2017

Strange figure watches
Through a veil of reflections--
Does it reflect me?

Gray sky in morning;

Is today Lincoln's birthday?

(I always forget.)

Red car swishes past,
Flashing against brown and white.
Plants are not amused.












Streams barely moving
On other side of the road;
Spring comes so slowly.











With laconic "caw"
Crow sails slowly through the sky,
Heading who knows where?

Filthy snow bank sits

At the end of the driveway--

Winter detritus.

The lazy stream bed

Turns into liquid mirrors

Reflecting the Spring.

Melting at their base

Trees begin to shed winter,

Drinking in moisture.

Single patch of snow

Sits under rock on the hill;

Shade, cool (for now).

From walk of February 24, 2017

Snow is receding;
No longer blanket of white;
Brown is arriving.

Small birds pecking

At anything that they can--

Hunger--no reason.

Distant geese calling

Through the warm and misty air;

Unseen like phantoms.

A trio of birds

Silhouetted on the tree

Watch--always watching.

Solar sign is blocked;

Its message has been obscured--

Mud wins over sun.

Suddenly the sun

Illuminates the road;

Then, the gray returns.

Dead leaves on snow bank

Lighting up the filthy snow.

(It's all relative.)

Old rusty trash can

Ventilated with small holes

Blends in with the woods.

Heading for Springtime

Plant drips on the floor;

Too much water--just make it stop.

I'm not in control!

Dripping icicles;

Bright shadows on the snow;

It's getting warmer.

A blur of wild geese

Sails over the melting pond,

Heading for Springtime.

Under stream water:

Shapes of leaves and twigs appear.

Shadow or substance?

Dark patches of brown

Spread slowly through the forest;

Overtaking white.

Layer of light brown

Spreads out upon the white snow--

Epitaph for tree.

Perched high in the air

Spurting clouds of ground up wood--

Tall tree and small man.

Ice, snow and water;

Transitions in the forest

As melting begins.

Game of Darknessandlight

Birds pecking on snow;

Black spots across the white--

Action in stillness.

Squirrel at the feeder

Devours all that is there;

Then scurried away.

In the bright sunshine

Bare tree reclaims dimensions--

All three of them.

High in the blue sky

Cirrus clouds hang motionless

Waiting for a breeze.

Staring at unknown

Empty backyard snow filled bench,

Lit up by the sun.

Snow, sun and shadows

Play together in the woods

Game of darknessandlight.

"Out! Keep Out! Keep Out!'

Signs admonish empty woods.

Overhead, crows laugh.

Lazy snow creature

Sits silently on the stump,

Just waiting to melt.

Errands Etched in Snow

Outside all is blank;

Then, for an instant, sunshine--

Just for an instant.

Shadows on the snow;

Outside the blankness of white

With dark dimensions.

Long pillars of ice

Hang from the edge of my roof--

Crystalline and bright.

The path is beaten

To the barn and back again:

Errands etched in snow.

Framed by the tall trees

Clouds move imperceptibly

Across the blue sky.

Sprouting from the snow

Dead branches imitate life

In deep winter's freeze.

Shadows in the woods

Mix darkly with the sunshine;

Then both fade away.

Sawdust on the ground;

The loud sound of buzzing saws--

Work crews are busy.