whisperings

Spun crystal cotton candy ice coating limbs of my tree
Winter’s fist declares an end to dreams of autumn lasting forever
The crunch of frozen snow on the sidewalk below brings me
Back years too far to track when during a nor’easter my
Mother heard a dog’s cry and dad and I said it was only the
The wind screaming through the trees playing tricks on
Our collective ears but she said no and had to go to find out
We watched her leave, dad behind Foster’s Daily Democrat
Evening edition and I wrapped up warm in my pjs sipping
A mug of hot chocolate with a large dab of whipped marshmallow
I rubbed the kitchen window clear and saw my mother pass
Her bare legs crunching through the icy snow now streaked
With red her head down and left arm protecting her eyes
From the blizzard as she held a flashlight that may have
Been on but useless in this nighttime storm she disappeared
From sight and time seemed to pass so long much too long
And I asked my father should we go in search for her and
He muttered something behind the cigar he chewed but no
Words of leaving came and I began to feel ashamed as
I gulped down the last of my drink and started to go upstairs
To change but changed my direction when I heard a thump
At the front door that might have been the wind or a clump
Of snow falling off the roof or maybe the paperboy turned
Around in the gale and trying to deliver yet one more paper
For my dad to hide behind rather than discuss anything of
Importance like my mother out there hunting for the source
Of a cry that only she could hear but no perhaps it was she
So I pushed the storm door free and found her leaning against
The porch railing with a half-frozen mongrel dog in her arms
The spun crystal cotton candy ice coating limbs of my tree
Outside my window almost four hundred miles away and fifty
Years ago speak to me of how fragile life is and whisper
Through my genes about tracks that linger in my soul.