Winter blowing--stiff, dry, rustling in the empty lot, Vacant, covered with weeds, Broken bottle scraps etched by the sandy summer rains. Caps with cork, buried and dented Mind splintering, rasped edges, frozen with footprints White owl swivels, vanishing into a naked tree-- I know it’s snowing! Don’t tell me! I’ve seen those shriveled twigs, barked by snow, white theatrics! Grey midnights, star-stuffed skies Mind shivering, sockets empty, iced with dreams I’ve tasted snow already! Stinging, melty, dusty, smelling of wire, Flakes clumping on the window screen. Yes, I see the spring shadows, hunching over the branchy tips, Curling, nipping at the buds Mind cracking, strafed by morning, sniffing after spring.