Springtime Thaw

Early Earth thaw First gasp of breath Heaves its snow chest Like a blanket pulled back Arches its cadaverous humps A surfacing serpent Along the street curbs Slithers to the drains Snakes away through the pipes Spills over the dams Swims in the rivers Toils to seas Butterflies as rain Tombstone wave Ten thousand miles away Taps the cedar of a clipper ship Once a snowflake In this winter land Marking a grave In a frozen drift Outside my kitchen window.