BALANCING SPRING


Sometime in long February
invisibility creeps in

people look
see only cold moonlight
where your breath has been

winter
it's always the same

the bare branches of trees
snow after midnight
the swirl of stars

March balances
on the edge of spring

the last nor'easter
of the season
blows up the coast
on the map blue and white

snow across the northern ice
brushes and polishes the surface
that cracks and sings
echoing off white
rock blue ice

coffee freezes tossed in the air

and more layers
every year

the bay is whitecapped here
the tideline wavewashed and
balancing spring
you wonder where your life has been

a ghost apparent
against the empty beach