a walk in winter a walk in winter

by Tom Pickard

in the company of trees
lush, in the low light
the long nights bring us

*

a dark Atlantic hood
flung overhead

boughs blown bare
bend in the blast

I zip my coat up, close,

step into my stride
and alive

*

my future backed–up,
and backdated,

watching time pass

here’s the first snow,
will it be my last?

*

clouds flock, west to east,
fly in fast formation

followed by a tail wind
dipped in sunset

a rapid chatter,
the sudden sound

of rain
on the cabin roof

a whirr
of small birds’ wings

flutter
in a flock of air

the element
we’re in