Winter tapping
hollow willow tree trunk –
a four month visitor about to move in
unload his messy clothing
be windy about it –
bark is grayish white as coming night with snow
fragments the seasons.
The chill of frost lays a deceitful blanket
over the courtyard greens and coats a
ghostly white mist over yellowed willow
leaves widely spaced teeth –
you can hear them clicking
like false teeth
or chattering like chipmunks
threatened in a distant burrow.
The willow tree knows the old man
approaching has showed up again,
in early November with
ice packed cheeks and brutal
puffy wind whistling with a sting.
Michael Lee Johnson is a poet and freelance writer from Itasca, Illinois. His brand new chapbook, From Which Place the Morning Rises, is now available at Lulu.com .
Posted on February 7, 2009 in Poems
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4 Responses to “WILLOW TREE NIGHT AND SNOWY VISITORS • by Michael Lee Johnson”
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February 7th, 2009 at 5:21 am
Good Poem.
One feels the dread of and shrinking back from the approaching chill. I’m not sure of the word “windy” on the fifth line since that word is often used to imply an easy free motion like “breezy,” only more so.
February 7th, 2009 at 8:58 am
I liked this image:
“ghostly white mist over yellowed willow
leaves widely spaced”
but I wondered if you could leave out that first “teeth” and just keep the second.
February 7th, 2009 at 9:26 am
Almost feel cold while reading–marvelous vision.
–dj
February 7th, 2009 at 11:30 am
I do like the two opening lines……….. they draw the reader in and make us want to know more! I agree with Robin about the teeth – once is enough, I think.
A great read!