Storm After Christmas

From day to night the lights are lit
along this unpaved road
on which the crow is walking
where the snowplows bit,
and where the dog is dallying
with scents that winter locked up 
in its bitter storm.

After celebration came emergency
revising all our plans for season's joy.
So much was taken, 
barely given,
we all were lost with it,
and for the best of reasons
once more we went shopping.

Slowly, slowly comes the thaw:
The little spring they forecast.
Soon a while the dog may taste 
again those odors, and the sea
give back what it has stolen.
The winter's long before us
and the cold will come again,
but certain longer light will show
at least there is a way.

December 29 2010