Tiger Riding for Beginners

Traveling Poet Philosopher & Occasional Wiseacre

the memory
 of an outdoor cafe
  at city center
 comes to me out of the blue,
 on a frigid Winter day.

seedpod rattle
 is silenced by ice crust
  on Winter branches.

tufts of grass poke
 through a dusting of snow; 
  tomorrow -- mud!

evergreens peek
 over the shoulders
  of barren hardwoods.

Winter's warm light
 on coppery Cyprus leaves
  makes a polished glow.

stony fortress,
 moated: turtle stretches neck
  out to sniff the air.

startled squirrel drops
 its nut; so sad for it, but
  we all get a tree.

Winter mornings:
 fog forms on the river --
  moments numbered.

quiet bayou:
 the odd bird flutters
  limb to lonely limb.

ducks drift 
 on frigid waters
  in Winter wetlands.