Some Winter Poems

by Daniel Lusk

1
Little blue finch has died.
I should have known
she’d not withstand cold
in her cage alone.

I buried her under the apple tree
by her mate. And then,
to linger awhile,
I pruned the tree for winter.

2
When light fails, I potter
out of doors. Pry rocks from the rubble
churned up from the pond
by the backhoe last summer,
flat rocks to make a wall

for snakes, for snow to hide.

3
Hollowness of the road underfoot
resounds in the hollow air.

Night draws shadows upward
from the ground.
Snow carrying starlight down.

4
Let’s call the ermine
crossing the deck to lie
by the house Snow White.

Remember the good white duck
that carried Gretel and Hansel
safely over the water.
5
Confined to books and classroom,
these young ones stretch
ripening bodies
under the gaze of their teacher.
They don’t mean anything by it.