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.)

A Small Portal to Beyond

Fat birds at feeder;

Gray sky is threatening now;

Brown bushes are bare.

Fat birds are leaving;

They don't just hog the feeder.

(Where did they learn that?)

It's always the cows

Living their lives quietly

In a tiny space.

The happy jogger:

Some days she sings to herself.

Today, she just smiles.

Desolate swamp land

Grows by the side of the road,

As stream waters flow.

The ignorant buds

That swell in January.

(Don't know calendars.)

Standing side by side--

Three very truncated trunks;

They have lost their heads.

Through the tall dead trunk,

A small portal to beyond:

Bare tree limbs are framed.

Chasing the Fat Birds

Chasing the fat birds

Has become a morning game;

Old St. Francis Sarv.

Fat birds are learning:

Some of them come, eat and leave

Like polite birds do.

With its wings folded

Crow seems to surf through the sky

So effortlessly.

Standing side by side

Silent sentinels waiting

For rays of the sun.

For many seasons

This swing has remained empty.

(Baby has grown up)

Snow topped newspapers

Collecting on the driveway;

(Their news is not hot.)

Lichen covered tree

Bends over the cat tail field--

Motion in stillness.

Small flickering lights

Float softly through the iced air:

Tiny flakes of snow.