Twelfth Night ritual–
 
we burn the withered pine wreath
 
and the Christmas tree.

 
 
 

Deepening winter—
 
how many more Christmases
 
can I hope to see?

 
 
 

Christmas afternoon—
 
bitter winds from Canada
 
make the juncos flinch.

 
 
 

White chrysanthemums
 
grow even whiter with snow
 
just before Christmas.

 
 
 

in a cardboard box
 
filled with castoff Christmas things:
 
Mary with no arms

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