Mixed Moss

We have a silver thaw right now. Very bad for the driving conditions. Because my family’s house is on a state route, the county plows our cars in several times a day. My dad is out of town, and my sister and I are so tired of digging the cars out of the driveway– and having to push the cars out onto a busy four-lane road into 55 MPH traffic– that we’ve started parking at a church up the street and making the 1/3 mile trek back to the house on foot. You should see us trying to dig the cars out! Chipping away at the ice. It’s hilarious.

A silver thaw is where the snow melts enough to coat the branches on the trees, and then freezes into ice. It is one of the most beautiful things that can happen to a tree. It is also one of the most dangerous. For the trees– branches can break off and the tree can die; and also for humans– a little girl was killed last week by a falling branch while she was out walking the dog.

Quiet
still
frozen hibernation
dormant life
encased within
a sheath of ice
listen
pause
the fragile life
crackles
wait with it
doubt
hesitation
at any moment
it may crack.
See it swing
cradled on the open air
rocked by the whistling wind
snap
crack
rush to ground…
But no.
it is only my imagination
branch still hangs
still sways
still alive.
But will it be,
come spring?

I feel like the trees. I am cut off and surrounded; frozen motionless.

Rain
On top of snow
On top of rain
On top of snow
weighing heavy on my brain;
but then I hug my soft sleek cat
and she makes it warm again.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 17th, 2007 at 10:12 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.