Ice Storm

slick roads
wind out from her small rock house
into a universe of pecan trees
creeks and bayous
flat-topped hills and
mesquite thickets
where wild turkeys nibble
on seeds they imagine

and even the wind
is a sheer sheet of ice    the skunks
stay hidden under shinnery
the armadillos sleep
pit vipers lie in cold rock as fossils
brittle as the quills of
porcupines or
the claws of badgers    breathing shallow

misty is going out
to a forest of stars tonight
she wants to get laid
with campfire heat
but more than that
she wants the sterno flame
of unconditional love

this gray   foggy   crystal night
so full of blindness
hiding
and loss

which an oddly misplaced
meadowlark
will sing about in the morning


[1-6-05]tm