after an early snow?
They shake it from the limbs
like pollen storming on themselves
but if another child lets fly
an unexpected mittenful that wets their necks
they are all tears.
Birch to balsam stem they rage
assailing branches till the brush is bare.
Will this bring back the fall or hasten spring?
(Wind will sift the snow down soon enough, small sons,
and you for your precociousness will know enough time in blizzards
keeping your collars dry.)