an owl-sized hole

in the maple's dark trunk 

complete with screech owl

which of the old songs

I've sung to the neighbor boy

will he remember?

every day's news
a huge front page story
in the olden times

radio buttons
pre-set to the old songs —
loyal listener

every night

a little smaller —

waning winter moon

with each careful step

I imagine what could break —

icy morning walk

sweating from the heat

of my overclocking brain —

I kick off the covers

waiting for feeling

to come back into my toes —

mid-winter problems

filling in the spaces

of lyrics I've forgotten

with la's and mm's

ice returns

to the surface of the lake

smoother after melting

we cut their stems short

to bring the water closer —

winter tulips

first sound of the day —

a woodpecker gets to work 

high and out of sight

arrows shot straight up

gave them a chance to be tough —

standing ramrod straight

ice under the snow —

I bring my heel down hard

shock waves radiating

my kitchen orchid

looks out over falling snow

and buds anyway

homemade icing —

our long sweet history of 

licking these spoons

I know I should go —

the prospect of climbing stairs

keeps me from my bed

freshly fallen —

a father tries to explain

it's not snowball snow

hardy snowdrops

exchanging little love notes

under the ice

morning chickadee —

leaving some space

for the other songs

the people's win —

everyone planning to wear

all green tomorrow

ice against windows  —

surrounded by the sounds

of winter at bay

driving in circles

with toxic ash from the fires —

where to lay it down?

oak leaves still clinging —
how long until the insistent
push of new growth?

oak leaves still clinging —

how long until the insistent

push of new growth?

cat on the table —
we uninvite him until
he loses interest

grey, overcast sky

with sun behind there somewhere —

weak tea, growing cold

a break in the storm —
space for the urgent scratch of
pencil on paper

how many days
below freezing do we need
to walk on the lake?

contagious feelings —

I watch the birds get braver

one seed at a time

taking smaller steps —

only ice and frozen ground 

to the end of sight

Venus and the moon
seeming close to each other
in a winter sky