Birds hunting food,
flocks in the air, wheel
above the metal Dumpster.
Nothing there. Pigeons
plump in drifts. The woman
who stirs the Dumpster
abandons her bent cart.
A white veil ripples
across the buildings.
A snow plow, scrawny
as an old man's neck,
like a squawking chicken,
jerks its yellow eye
in the shrouded parking lot.
Main Street traffic stops.
Power lines sag.
Power goes out.
From the dark window,
flashing red lights,
sirens passing slow
through the diaphanous
scarves of blowing crystals.
The shudder of spumes,
sprays of fine ice
against the building.... Read more