December

by Thomas Griffin

A thin layer of snow at sunset.

Crinkle-leafed prongs of summer
phlox poke out of snow amidst
whiskers of seeds on the nose
of ragweed shafts 

crab tree with a few dark rubies
yet to drop
porcupine of stripped quince
head snowed under 

half-the-moon crown tilts
toward black woods 
rosy waves of clouds back
the fading sun falling behind trees—  

everything looks like waiting.
Tufts of brown grass stems
stripped of seed
too tall to be buried in snow

too thin to be broken by wind.
Leave them all
now, go inside
warm your dreams. 

Category: Poetry, SNHU Creative Writing, SNHU online creative writing