Morning Chill

The morning fog hangs thick
in the dip between where
the world drops off
and it remembers again
that Columbus was wrong,
the earth is not flat,
and trees appear like soldiers
marching up the slope
on the other side
of this momentary discontinuity


The sun stands proud
in a cloudless sky
proclaiming spring has sprung
to deaf ears
for there's still a long time yet
where ice is queen
draped in her snowy white cloak
and no amount of crowing
by that fire in the sky
can cut the chill


Janet Reid
March 2008