first day of the month
sleet rain in buckets
wind to knock out your teeth
showers of ice
then the snow snatches the house
water in the basement
cold shocking the windows
even the christmas lights
wonder what happened
now in the morning
you scrape the car
unlock the left front door
with a hair dryer
and look here the sun
comes beaming out of the east
says old man why not smile
everything is forgiven
you stand there in the cold
studying your frozen fingers
wondering what the hell
was it you did wrong
© John Knoepfle 2004
This article appears in Dec 2-8, 2004.
