-blizzard-

seems like half the tree

has ripped off from the rest of itself

falling near the stone wall at the street.

It was a late-night landing,

the crack of it joining the cacophony

of shattering, thunderous thumps,

whistles ranging over the stave, straining

at their highest pitch,—

alarms in all directions at last necessitating
some degree of attention. 

the blizzard lost its intensity

toward early morning

and in the sunlight, readings of its ferocity

map-out what there is to do.

the winds were at their peak

just after the midnight hour

the only power available is the wind,

here in the dark howling, deep into night,

bleak as the lost confessionals,—

alone for the first time since the death

a few weeks earlier of my mother,

in her bedroom, in her bed, in her sleep,—

safe, without discomfort, unafraid and at 96,

gave pause for reflection;— to be at one

with the fierceness of the storm,

alone in the midst of the wind, receding.

                                                 2/9/13