I like the range of this within the small space of the neighbourhood,
Mark
Of course I had seen the snow on TV....
(What we haven't had in Alberta, although the East Coast was just like
you in New York)...
Doug
On 15-Feb-06, at 8:46 AM, Mark Weiss wrote:
> BIG SNOW
>
> I
> At the height of the storm
> up the narrow path to the place
> where the chickadees hang out
> two women, older and younger,
> pose in the snow, arms raised,
> palms upwards,
> for all the world art-deco figurines
> of Egyptian dancers, except that they're bundled-up
> and Mexican. They make an offering, seeds
> in the hollows of their hands,
> and the chickadees perch on their fingers.
> Beyond them, a blur of red resolves
> into a crowd of cardinals, five males
> and a dozen females. "I've never seen
> two males together," I tell a man standing there
> with a paper bag, "too territorial."
> "They're hungry," he says, and spreads some grain.
>
>
> II
> A day for Mexicans. Later I come upon a group
> sliding down a small rise, children and grownups covered in snow.
> Giggles everywhere.
> A woman stands with her child
> at the bottom. "First time for him?" I ask in Spanish.
> "For me, too," she answers. It never snows in Puebla.
>
>
> III
> So, two faces of one storm: us humans,
> those with coats, delighted by the holiday,
> and desperate birds, their presence
> sufficient commentary.
>
>
Douglas Barbour
11655 - 72 Avenue NW
Edmonton Ab T6G 0B9
(780) 436 3320
No farther out
than in –
no nearer here
than there.
Robert Creeley
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