The Relevance of Last Winter

The Relevance of Last Winter David J Walker The acrid odor of a Butane fueled space heater Seemed better than freezing In the sub-frigid air of a February prairie winters day We set fire To dried mesquit limbs Cleared from an adjacent pasture last summer It seemed better than freezing In the March wind Bending its way Into a town of little interest By 4 pm The light was failing ice was forming On the tractors casings Ours Were the only lives Exposed To the Mercies of the miseries Of a winter storm The small farmhouse Stood alone The warm refuge At the end of a field Of long fallow rows Awaiting The next seasons Best efforts