snow

Shroud *i.

*i.

The leaves’ backs are bowed
under the weight of an orphan
snow. Steadily, steadily,
a forlorn blanket hides the
bright greens and muted grays of
an accosted April night,
blustering acidly about the day’s
clean yellow tulips and
gracing sun-kissed surfaces with
abrasive white garments.

Appalled at the decay of Spring’s
burgeoning beauty, I see
Snow caressing tree-trunks : seductive,
consuming, unwilling to be
abandoned. forgotten. left
alone.

Her death-shroud touch darkens my sight
with the achingly slow weight of Sorrow, a stone
growing heavy in my heart: the passing of
Promise.

c. Mary Kathryn Gough
May 23, 2005 / edit i: 7/19/05 / edit ii: 2/28/06/ edit iii: 2/27/11/ edit iv: 12/10/11
Shroud, Part One

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conservation of matter / energy

woke this morning, lifted salty
eyes to a small window frosted with chill.

condensed upon the pane: night’s dew
from my cheeks and shining eyes, transformed.

outside, dark-needled giants bow, scrape
Earth, weighed down with the
weight of my
heart;
white as snow.

somewhere, a cardinal wreaks havoc.

 

c. Mary Kathryn Gough
11/9/05 11.53 am oregon cabin
(abt 11/7/05, unexpected snow)
small edit: feb 17 2010 1.44 pm london

.:snow on tree trunks:.

light laces, sharply
curving– splits,
forks
through dark trees lancing
upward, lightning-like
into inky blackness,
numerical arms branching,
breaking earth
Open and
arcing out into

Air.

soft vibrations in limb
and forest floor raise the stately
head of a stag: sudden

Awareness.

c. Mary Kathryn Gough
2/22/05 4.06 am
edit: 9/12/05 1.44 pm
edit: feb 17 2010 12.59 pm london