spreads bare branches, warms twisted,
gnarled arms in sun.
Long tree shadows fall
across cold brown grass; frosted
impatient blooms droop.
In Withered, brown leaves
a furry field mouse gnaws nuts,
its whiskers twitching.
Overhead the first
night owl spreads its wings and swoops
Swiftly to the ground.
days linger each afternoon;
soon a snow-white veil.
Like a bridal gown
new snow embraces the hills,
kisses chrysanthemums.
Crystal, diamond drops,
frozen flakes, blur lines between
distant sky and land.
Beneath the snow veil
the living world suspends breath,
resting in slumber.
the morning sun is a red
disk above bare trees.
Horizon clouds are black
with rain that might fall today
restoring new life.
The light creeps across
the sky lighting the wet dew
with nourishing warmth.
In the garden white
crocuses burst the black
soil cocoon and bloom.
in the midst of dead
leaves still wet with winter snow--
a promise of SPRING!
John Daleiden
Oblique: A Poetry Journal Copyright © 2005 John Daleiden You Are Visitor Number
