leaves still lingering

maple tree’s silhouetted boughs

shimmering confetti

December rain

a scrappy frost

mounts a weathered deck railing

the clamor of crows

late December

another difficult year

nearly spent     

turbulent winds woke me at midnight

was that a runaway train I heard

or the roar of a 747 skimming our rooftop?

minute by minute, hour after hour—

as sleep eluded me, at last I turned on the light

burgundy ribbed tights, velvet pinafore

a single spotlight, the hushed crowd

8-year-old Allison steps up to the microphone