Replying to a comment on:

Winter Lands: I (Free verse) by http://bandgeek

Another winter, another home. Last winter, crisped through plowed lots to the bus stop. Artificial gaps in the snowbank, two feet across, served as meager public sidewalk. Uneven openings were trampled and kicked through the spattered gray bank next to bus route signs to expedite entry into a warm, musky haven of public transportation. Hoped for a few inches of fresh snow weekly to make soot blackened snow mountains “clean”. Not caring that come spring, warmer rains would reveal many horrors to unwitting pedestrian archeologists. Forgotten, but never lost; layers of salty sand, styrofoam coffee cups, bus transfer tickets, pink frozen vomit, faded mittens, condom wrappers. In that land, reassurance glowed every half hour. Plowtrucks’ yellow lights flickered into apartment rooms. Distant scraping sounded a friendly reminder: the safety of a city with parking bans.

http://bandgeek 7-Dec-03/6:59 PM
Winter Lands: II

This winter,
a new land to explore,
suburban chickens
peck over frozen ground.
Salt water freezes on bluegreen estuary banks’
sloping glaze, as inviting as a waterslide
in spite of eternal, internal struggle of salty ice.
Clots of snow form on stilled river
like frothing yeast in lukewarm water.
Gentle spray over the dam freezes
into frosty stalagmites:
upside-down icicles reaching toward clouds.
The traffic on Main Street
comprises of privately owned
pick up trucks with yellow plows attached
on their way to rescue those who can pay.
Shovelers relocate dense snow,
one 12 x 16 x 8 inch rectangle at a time
the satisfying fulfillment of
metal scraping gravel struggles to be heard
over obliviously aimed snowblower motors
who fan their plumes of snow onto
shovelers’ now diminutive accomplishments.

In this land,
it is so easy.
Let the car hide under that mass,
safety is not the certainty
of an accessible city bus every fifteen minutes.
Safety is hibernation behind storm windows
among flannel and housecats,
feeling assured,
there is nothing to do out there anyway.




Track and Plan your submissions ; Read some Comics ; Get Paid for your Poetry
PoemRanker Copyright © 2001 - 2024 - kaolin fire - All Rights Reserved
All poems Copyright © their respective authors
An internet tradition since June 9, 2001