SMALL POEMS| Winter

   

winter coming
in spiked boots --
the taste of nettles

 

the day of the dead
ground too frozen
to bury the parakeet

 

slow river
ice creeping inward
from its banks

 

left behind
one duck
on the freezing river

 

entering winter
closing
the yellow door

 

four a.m.
cold climbs in
the windowpane

 

foggy morning
muffled
the calls of crows

 

you are my north
I seek refuge from the cold
in you, my south

 

the shadow
     of snow
     on snow

 

christmas morning
     this garden
          filled with wings

 

tailless squirrel --
i feed her
just the same

 

joe's 93rd birthday
     through the skylight
          a thin moon

 

two long nights
one short day

the buddha smiles

 

before you came back
i didn't miss you