sealed candy jar on a cold afternoon: can spring be far off?

i

carpet of flame
descending from the trees
passers by buttoned up
gloved hands in hands
lovers scanning
sealed candy jar
behind the store window

wafting aroma from
the kiosks - hot dogs
roasted chestnuts
mixed with the whiff
of freshly brewed coffee
floating in the nostrils

do folks walk faster in fall?

bundled up kids
chasing puppies in the park
with a zest in their voices
weather not a deterrent
to their calendar



ii

having completed the poem
the fingers refuse to move on

there are tremors
from gaza, baghdad, darfur
and neoconzix rats
jumping ships in midterm

even on a quiet day
disquieting news drifts in
clouding spring