Soft palms applaud
Winter’s arrival: Welcome Snow!
So glad you could come, take a chair on the lawn,
Or lounge on the sill, and worship the starlight.
We knew you were coming,
When little Earth threw the annual arctic fox over her shoulders,
Peeping through chiffon hairs, her green eyes
Met its black lipped smile,
Hers; hidden.

Sounds of snow so singular, so awkward to place:
Perhaps the closure of wings on feathered flanks,
Paws on rain-soaked oak leaves,
The pearl moon laughing in the kitchen sink,

Until his alabaster lips part into a yawn,
And all is frozen as a lake in the sky.
Did you know the stars are Russian skaters?
They twist on one toe
Wrapped in the silver furs of foreign foxes.

Closer to home,
My window opens like an unblinking eye
Onto an army of pine,
Needles turning upwards
As an apricot afternoon chills to ivory.