Laurie Doctor, Golden Crowned Kinglet
EARLY SPRING SNOW
Say it fell as signs of life
All over town
Holding the news
Alive like scared sparrows
Flying from hungry hawks
Sounds of tires
Hissing in the mush
As early sirens
Carried someone
To a sleepy hospital
Snow was sackcloth
Draped over marigolds
Hiding the blood of roses
Like pharmacists bottling
Their latest prescriptions
The sun would take it
As quickly as a heart
Galloping in an old breast
In blinding light
_________________
John Garmon