deep freeze

northwest of emptiness
twenty five below zero

black capped chickadee
clings to an icicle

this morninigs aurora
silver, swirling, sterling

in the crisp sky, the
boreal constellation

patterned on lone wolf
howling,loneliness echoeing

across the black trees
crushing down the frozen river

I must sharpen my senses,
sharpen the axe, clean the
gun and oil the traps

I see the face of my
beloved, in the
swirling curl
of window ice