April 7: Sparrow

even as snow falls

song sparrows singing

those emotions

April 6: Spring snow

April snowfall

we’d have thought it beautiful

three months ago

March 24: Melting

startled after dark

by the soft sounds of snow

sliding off the roof

March 22: Crocus

little girl in boots

crushing crocus flowers

under a crust of snow

March 21: Vernal Equinox

first day of spring

nothing leaves a mark
on the packed snow

March 20: Raven

far from the desert

is the same raven soaring 

over these snowy fields

March 8: Snowdrop

under all that fresh snow

first tendrils of snowdrops

that had just appeared

February 19: Tracking

life lessons

frozen hieroglyphics

of a crow’s tracks

February 1: Reading poetry on a winter's night

Last night in my Maine Poetry class, we read aloud Longfellow's "Wreck of the Hesperus," each of us in turn reading a stanza—an under-appreciated, long-lost form of entertainment.

Full moon on snow.
Reading Longfellow aloud
like they used to.

January 31: Blue Moon

I confess I slept through this morning's partial lunar eclipse. But I did admire the moon in the middle of the night as it was lighting up the post-snowstorm sky. This full moon is a blue moon, being the second full moon of the month. It was also, technically, a super moon, meaning it was at a closer point to Earth in its orbit (perigee). A lot going on in the sky as the moon was setting and the sun was rising.

Blue moon setting.
Constellation of oak leaves
scattered on fresh snow.

January 22: Spying

Black pieces on a white board—
what are the crows up to
across the river?

January 20: Winter Zen

Buddha of the porch

remains serene

with a lap full of snow.

January 19: Out

Sun on fresh snow.

Titmouse’s dog-whistle

calling me outside.

January 17: Red on white

Cardinal in a snowstorm.

Finding hope 

in the smallest things.

January 9: Outside

After days of single digit and subzero temperatures, it rose into the 30s today. I actually paused to appreciate being outside. 

Shoveling gritty snow

rush of traffic

goldfinches singing

January 7: What lies beneath

Transfer station.

Could be anything

under those piles of snow.

December 27: Fresh snow

Wind chill below zero.

On the snow-covered lawn

tracks of one squirrel. 

December 26: Driving home

just ten degrees 

miles and miles of snowy fields

only one crow flying

December 23: Musée National de Beaux-Arts

Musée de beaux-arts—

watching a single crow

fly through blowing snow.

December 18: Upriver

Snow falling fast

I can barely make out

two ducks flying upriver