Good Thing it Was Cut

This is the tree stump--

Base of a forty foot tree.

Good thing it was cut.

Sun falling on snow;

Water dripping from the eaves;

White blasts in the woods.

Icicles dripping;

Persistent drops of water;

A white winter day.

Susan drags the hay;

(Little house but no prairie). 

The goats are waiting.

Tracks on my front porch--

Not a squirrel or a large bird;

What the hell was it?

The snow frosted stream

Flows as loudly as ever

Through the whitened woods.

Soft white dunes appear

Where yesterday were brown leaves.;

Tomorrow? Who knows?

Shadows in the woods

Fall sharply on the white snow--

Cold winter contrast.

Hardy milkweed husk

Still standing through the snow fall

Without any seeds.

Almost Like a Moon

From the walk of February 8, 2016














Grinding sounds outside;

Trucks in the street and driveway.

My two trees are downed.

A fleet of trucks come;

All to cut down my two trees--

A woodsman's army.

Something's missing here;

Barn door is seen through barn door.

Where have the cows gone?

Deep in the brambles

Brief littering of bird wings

And a secure nest.

Sky promises snow--

Fully gray without sunlight.

(It has lied before.)

The tiny wire fence

Once protected emptiness.

It's just changed its place.

Across the stream bed

A new log bridge has fallen.

(No one will cross it.)

Almost like a moon

Sun peers through a veil of clouds

Shedding some dim light.

(But There's No Jelly.)

Peanut butter treat

Attracts all birds and squirrels;

(But there's no jelly.)

Bright Sunday morning;

Sun and shadows all around.

(But it's still winter.)

New birds are singing;

Ground hog can't find its shadow;

Collette keeps chewing.

They're outside the fence--

Chickens checking and pecking.

(Is the grass greener?)

Mysterious stump

Darker with the sun's brightness,

Reveals its black depths.

Fence and thin tree limbs

Weave in a silent embrace--

Wooden affection.

She passes me by,

Radiates a brilliant smile--

Then she disappears.

Hand made dragonfly

Reveals the world behind him

Through his gauzy wings.