Nowhere to be Found

Gray skies are snow filled;

Yellow leaves are still on trees;

Bird feeder's leaning.

There is no sunshine;

Still, there is softness in my heart--

I am home again!

The last yellow leaves

Cling desperately to the tree--

They just won't let go.

Collette watches me

As she stares from her barn door,

Silently chewing.

Ice on roadside pond

Glistening gray under the sky--

Winter is now here.

The bough is bare now;

Under it the stream rushes

Swiftly and still loud.

Unfrozen water

Kept liquid by its motion--

Surface rippling.

The sign is crumpled;

Still the cat peers out blankly;

Nowhere to be found.

Black dots in the sky

Leaves press against the greyness;

They have lost their green.

Floating on water

Dead leaves maintain their greenness--

Illusion of life.

The naked trees stand,

Stark silhouettes of winter

Yet to arrive here.

Still they're hanging

Delicate seed puffs waiting

For a puff of wind.