The driveway is a slippery flatfish,
the landscape a gray foil around it
and fog, not far off, settles
around twin beeches
behind the town garage.
A hard rain pounds my winter jacket,
Ice under water beneath my feet–
each layer making the other
more treacherous.
This morning my daughter
posted on Facebook, pictures
of her perfect tanned legs
stretched out on a Florida beach.
I try not to envy her and fail.
Hood over my head, I edge my way
to the car, hang on to the side.
Unbalanced in this frozen moment, I wonder
why I’m going into the chancy weather
only for mail, to pick up a prescription
when I could have chosen instead to stay in
with the computer, the clock, the clicking
on and off of the furnace.
the landscape a gray foil around it
and fog, not far off, settles
around twin beeches
behind the town garage.
A hard rain pounds my winter jacket,
Ice under water beneath my feet–
each layer making the other
more treacherous.
This morning my daughter
posted on Facebook, pictures
of her perfect tanned legs
stretched out on a Florida beach.
I try not to envy her and fail.
Hood over my head, I edge my way
to the car, hang on to the side.
Unbalanced in this frozen moment, I wonder
why I’m going into the chancy weather
only for mail, to pick up a prescription
when I could have chosen instead to stay in
with the computer, the clock, the clicking
on and off of the furnace.
Patricia Fargnoli has published 5 books of poetry. Her latest book is Hallowed: New & Selected Poems, Tupelo Press, 2017. A former NH Poet Laureate and a MacDowell Fellow, she’s published widely in journals such as Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, Alaska Quarterly et. al.
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