January 1984

skis rasp on the snow

underfoot

drowning out calling birds

overhead

falling silhouettes of white

backed by a drop cloth

of living green

of red

where the fall

has been frozen

by premature cold

moving at all

starts another shakedown

as flakes

temporarily indisposed

to touch the earth

are jarred

from their cedar berth

to follow with wild abandon

the way of autumn leaves

when the tendrils

of the ice clad mistress

first tickle the winds

in the season’s square dance

on the earth