Or Give Me a Kiss

Sun streams through windows

Showing off the dirty glass;

(Bitter with better) 

Coffee roaster whirls--

Room is filled with pungent smell:

Morning wake up call.

Collette comes over;

She wants to say a hello

Or give me a kiss.

Through the evergreens

Pond is beginning to freeze;

Stream keeps on flowing.

Shadows on the road  

Winding soft up the driveway

Into the forest.

Old forest stream bed

A chain of frozen puddles

Waiting for the Spring.

Discarded bumper

Lies at the edge of the road--

A piece of found art.

Unseen, in the woods,

Sounds of ripping and sawing;

Dead trees will succumb.

Hundred and forty

Rings mark each year this tree lived. 

It was just cut down.

Miracle Today?

Has anything changed?

Birds still eating; snow on ground--

Miracle today?

So peaceful outside--

White frosting of snow and ice

(And it's surely cold.)

Stuck to their branches,

Dead Autumn leaves won't let go.

Ripple in the wind.

They're at it again,

Cutting down the dead ash trees

That litter the road.

Dry Pampas grass stalks

Guarding the deserted house

Stand tall like sentries.

Road signs are empty,

Messages mysterious

When viewed from behind.

Two slim dead tree trunks

Bloom again with green needles

From neighboring trees.

Rising from the ground

As it once rose from the sea

Million years ago.

Frozen Yet Again

Frosting on the snow--

Dead leaves skip along the white;

Fir tree branches bob.

Refrigerator

Hums softly in the background;

Sun rays on windows.

Squirrel tracks on my porch;

Christmas wreath on the barn wall;

Ice breeze up the road.

Icy smooth and white,

The clear top of the tree stump

Frozen yet again.

Frozen road beckons;

Chain saw echoes through the woods.

It's colder than cold.

Team of men and trucks

Gathering by the roadside

To bring down a tree.

All sounds are frozen

Suspended in frigid air;

All shadows are still.

A horse lived here once;

Smells of horseshit filled the air.

(Horse and smells are gone.)