Toast

 
 
 

as December ends
 
a cup of chamomile tea
 
to toast its passing

Wind

 
 
 

relentless sea wind
 
bending each branch of the tree
 
to its iron will

Fruit

 
 
 

unharvested fruit
 
still clinging to the rose bush
 
as the old year ends

Fisherman

 
 
 

winter fisherman
 
hoping that a morning’s catch
 
will grace his table

Selfie

 
 
 

another selfie—
 
the girl in the blue suede shoes
 
tilts her head just so

Longing

 
 
 

her childlike longing
 
for a Christmas tangerine
 
and a candy cane

Snowfall

 
 
 

Christmas afternoon—
 
no respite from the snowfall
 
that began last night

Cloaked

 
 
 

Christmas Eve cursing—
 
a crow in the cottonwood
 
cloaked in midnight snow

Memory

 
 
 

a plum tree blossoms
 
only in my memory—
 
zero Celsius

Plowing

 
 
 

old mandarin duck
 
plowing his way through the drifts—
 
unexpected snow