crostini, six darling bites

toasted to perfection

my mouth, still so happy…

fog envelops our neighbors

across the fairway

fun to imagine a dense forest

resides there instead…

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