THREE SISTERS
We walk the plow’s wide swath.
Hill and sky and snow blending to a single hue.
Grateful for the township’s diligence.
COUNTRY ROADS
These gravel roads well kempt.
I, like a turtle-in-my-shell
or wolf-inside-thick-pelt
or abominable snowman’s wife;
coat of down, jeans, gortex pants, wool socks,
warm boots, yaktrax, sock hat, head band, scarf and hood.
Smell of lanolin from wool perfumed by my moist breath.
ZAPHYRE & COLLIES
Steady in and exhalations pulse inside my head
as layers keep them in.
Up the first steep hill, Zaphyre by my side.
Four wooly collies meet and greet.
Dash and disappear within white again.
Is there such thing as snow mirage?
No, it’s really there.
A mail box draped in dead raccoon.
THE LAST POLE DANCE
I stroke his fine and velvet corpse.
How on earth did he get here?
Road kill from a careless car?
This walkabout “around the block” is two miles square.
From west to south then east we go.
My fingers fist inside my hands
inside my gloves to keep them warm.
Sleet’s tiny arrows pelt my face.
A neighbor plows his drive with a timeworn farm machine.
It moans and groans then vanishes inside a snow walled lane.
Now we’re heading north, the route for snowmobiles.
Mechanical mosquitoes that I would love to swat.
None today. Their crusted paths are drifted deep.
Working hard we lift our legs, my torso damp with sweat.
The pregnant heifers wait downhill nibbling icy hay entrées.
I look into each set of eyes and greet them one by one.
The final turn is west again, past three old dinosaurs.
The augers lift their metal necks, reaching into sky.
Zaphyre is far ahead, settled in her snow capped house.
Soon I’ll unearth my body in the comfort of my own.
JERRY FEEDS THE BIRDS
THE BROTHERS GRIMM: A MUSICAL ADVENTURE
& A CONCERT in CHICAGO!
Arranging the music for the show occupies the major part of my brain and lifescape. I’m excited to know I’ve got a great violinist on board and have been adding in parts for flute, oboe and violin. I must remind myself to simply take one step at a time so as not to go into overwhelm. I like how it’s unfolding. I listened to some of the soundtrack from “EVITA” this morning just to get some other sounds and ideas in my head. www.greattheatre.org
Next week: LOVE’S LABORS and some of my musical settings of LONGFELLOW’s poems will be performed at a gathering near Chicago. My friend, soprano KITTY KARN will be performing the SHAKESPEARE SONNETS and LISA GRISOLIA will sing Longfellow’s THE BROOK AND THE WAVE and FATA MORGANA as I accompany on piano. I think we’ll all perform one of the GRIMMS pieces just for fun! So glad I’m not there today! 22 inches of snow fell in one night making travel pretty risky.
