Snow Haiku Flurries

Snow Haiku Flurries,
Sort of,
By the Wenatchee River
Near Plain, Washington
Winter of 2007-2008

I shovel snow beneath cold stars
Moonshadows fall between tall trees
I dig my path to the tallest tree

I woke to white sunshine
And zero degrees outside
The river slowed with ice

I stood at river’s edge
Watching ice float downstream
Silver in white sunshine

Snow spins from frozen branches
Glitters as fractured glass
Ice sparkles in sunshine

Snow spins frozen
Glitters like glass
Sparkles in sunshine

Children laugh in snow
Cold crackles white
Bright is my deafness

Breath hangs frozen in air
Amid clusters of evergreen branches
Where I walk past cold trees

Western red squirrel poises
Halfway up a ponderosa pine
And barks as I carry firewood

Yesterday two pickup trucks filled with snow
Race ahead thru lowland rain
Bemused I watch them go

Sun burns cold across winter skies
Settles down behind yonder ridge
As I gather up another armload of firewood

Deep in dark woods
Next to one silent cabin
A giant crucifix twinkles red with Holiday lights

Gorgeous woman one year away from forty
Sinks silently into our hot tub
Naked her eyes behold me

Clouds blow in across the Moon
Snow falls from darkness
Trees whisper in the wind

She emerges from the hot tub
Slips on her bathrobe backwards as snowflakes fall
Tiptoes to the railing, bends over and wiggles

Together we join with the darkness
The lights within become one
We slip in the snow and laugh

Our bed is warm before the fire
We slide under heavy covers
And snuggle with pillows

Sleep is most divine
Though often dismissed
I close my eyes as breaths flow free



By William Dudley Bass
January 2008


© by William Dudley Bass