Crows

From the great bare oak

on the day after Christmas

crows jeer passersby.

Shopping

last-minute shopping

on the day before Christmas—

my thinning wallet

White chrysanthemums

grow whiter with the first snow

just before Christmas.

Just before Christmas

a cat curls up in the straw

of a curbside crèche.

Just before Christmas

my neighbor’s calico cat

takes her final nap.

window-shopping spree

during after-Christmas sales—

my empty wallet

Christmas afternoon—

a cold wind from the northwest

makes the juncos flinch.