Morning light reveals
hooves crossing the bridge from the forest into the yard
during the quiet of the night.
Reading Signs
Pampas grass flags
document the speed and direction of the wind.
Nest
Winter laid an egg of snow
for March to roost upon
we’ll count the days until the hatch
of finely feathered spring.
Jacob’s Brook
Tundra
This winter’s frozen landscape
turns the familiar field into an alien surface
the dark side of the moon.
Winter Conspiracy
Comrades of the cold
the trees and the river share and keep
their secrets of the silent season.
Delicate
Grey
The February forest offers
ten thousand shades of grey,
haven for the mourning dove.
Dormant
Four fallow fields full of snow
hold their place on the mountain side
patiently waiting for Spring to arrive.
Winter’s Light
In this year of little snow
the cold seems to bring edges into focus.
Iris
Brown crown in the snow
marker of where the iris grows.
Magnolia in Winter
Your stylish furry jacket protects
your tender fragrant blossoms
from the elements of winter.
Window on Winter
As the cold has settled deep into the ground
stillness has wrapped itself around the house
and both accentuate
the smallest of movements and quietest whispers of the heart.
Endurance
Dangling over the hard, frozen river
seedpods dance in the bitter winds of winter;
awaiting their new life flight on the gentle breeze of spring
and planting in soft, fertile ground.
Sugared Maple
When fall departed it took its brilliant colors with it.
The fallen leaf bejeweled by winter sparkles on.
Ice Flow
The moment is caught in midstream
like the oak leaf
frozen in time.
Dark before Night
In the winter days darkness comes long before night.
It can seem the sun shines only in the distance
while the cold grabs on tight as a tick.
Snake and Bird
In the winter landscape
the snake with his skin of leaves and grass
hunts the water bird.
Winter’s Day
The sky moves as fast as the days are short.
Cold is gathering, gathering, gathering.
Before the Silence
The river moans
as ice begins to creep from bank to bank
silencing it for the winter.
Icicles and birch
Winter’s slant
creates
a herringbone design.
Put the garden to bed
With a blanket of hay
the garden is tucked in for the winter,
snug as a bug.
Bare
Naked branches await
their winter coats of white.
In the Valley
In the quiet of the valley
farms and forest prepare themselves
for the demands of winter.
Curl
A frozen wave encircles the dormer window.
The tube can be ridden from inside the house
until it is dissolved by the sun.
Bambino
The cement child with his faithful squirrel
wears his winter cloths
a cap and shawl of snow.
Hush
Snow covers the land with quiet,
muting the colors of Fall.
Winter’s paintbrush holds a thousand shades of grey.
Resting Fields
The days grow shorter, the land lays dormant.
Rest is essential to creation.
Winter will gestate Spring.
Purple and Orange
Bold as a butterfly’s wing
foliage sears color into our memory
before the white blanket of winter descends.
October Snow
The roses bow their heads
in respect to winter.