halting, cautious footsteps
off-trail preferable to icy pathways
the busy swish of nylon gaiters,
crunch of snow underfoot
deep breaths, a racing heartbeat
the brisk exhilaration
of a cold December afternoon

halting, cautious footsteps
off-trail preferable to icy pathways
the busy swish of nylon gaiters,
crunch of snow underfoot
deep breaths, a racing heartbeat
the brisk exhilaration
of a cold December afternoon
first December Saturday
bells & sirens, crisp morning air
Santa perched atop a firetruck
waves to all, up & down every street
~ for Bill

cajoling the last of it out of the tube
I deplore the wasting of anything
yet every light’s left on in the kitchen
a range of three to twelve hours
five nearly passed and still, no sign
I wait for my first sourdough to rise
I yo-yo the thermostat
too warm, too cool, too warm again —
the change, many years long past
so that’s not it! —
I think my indecisive body
simply cannot make up its mind
barefoot across a late-night floor,
frigid air streams in, unopposed —
our front door fallen open —
winter letting itself inside
I shiver in the realization
there are those with so much less
than what we take for granted
Coco peers out the sunroom window —
is he as blinded by the new-fallen snow as I am?
I wonder, do his dreams recall those puppy leaps
of uncontainable joy into that brisk vastness of white?
first snow; I walk about twenty minutes
but quality over quantity; that’s what counts
eight inches of snow, with more still falling
there’s not much traffic on these unplowed streets;
the entire (lumpy, uneven) center — all to myself
My prose poem, inadvertently, I disturb the sanctuary of a nest hidden in a clump of shrubbery, was published today in January House Literary Journal.
It is also scheduled to appear, in print, in their Spring issue coming out in April or May.
Chit Chat