Cold

The world awaits in barren splendor
For someone to stir the embers

-Bill Mallonnee, "Extreme North of the Compass"

February

In February it will be
My snowman's anniversary
with cake for him and soup for me!
Happy once
happy twice
happy chicken soup with rice.

-Maurice Sendak

January

In January it's so nice
while slipping on the sliding ice
to sip hot chicken soup with rice.
Sipping once
sipping twice
sipping chicken soup with rice.

-Maurice Sendak

Days

Each one is a gift, no doubt,
mysteriously placed in your waking hand
or set upon your forehead
moments before you open your eyes.

Today begins cold and bright,
the ground heavy with snow
and the thick masonry of ice,
the sun glinting off the turrets of clouds.

Through the calm eye of the window
everything is in its place
but so precariously
this day might be resting somehow

on the one before it,
all the days of the past stacked high
like the impossible tower of dishes
entertainers used to build on stage.

No wonder you find yourself
perched on the top of a tall ladder
hoping to add one more.
Just another Wednesday

you whisper,
then holding your breath,
place this cup on yesterday’s saucer
without the slightest clink.

-Billy Collins, The Art of Drowning