Frozen Image - version 3 - Poem by Raymond A. Foss

Down the path
Away from the road,
Bustle of the highway
In the inner quiet
Cold of winter
Emptiness, sadness,
Turn inside

Catch of air – shortness of breath
Loss of warmth
Crunch of snow
Snap of branch
Startled revelation

A burst of downy wings
Shards, detritus, clutter
Festooned the ground
A vole track
Ended abruptly

Cardboard boxes,
Phone calls
Left belongings
Of rapid parting
And decisions made
Death frozen in place
Serenely, as it should be

Impressions
Catches of light and shadow
The beat of predator feathers
Pressed
Thrust into the crust
Preserved, as in paraffin

Cataloged and filed away
Without emotion
Words and unfilled promises,
Archived, haunting
Mocking

Arc of
Feathers
Captured in the coating –
Fingers,
Hands scooping
A pile of leaves
For bagging

Holding themselves
In the hug of the
Invisible wings
Alone

Frozen image
Fleeting, under melting
Life and death
Lost in time
Transformed by internalizing

Brooding
Ponderous steps, footprints
Of the road
Down the path
I must take

June 24, 2004 15:26, about a walk on the http://hikenh.netfirms.com/TDNinete.htm>Nineteen Mile Brook Trail, http://www.hike-nh.com/trips/carter/index.shtml> Alternate site, off Router 16 just up from the Mt. Washington Auto Road, one January morning 5 years ago.
Edited June 24, 2004 19:13, adding a 4th stanza.
Edited June 24, 2004 22:02, with more of me.