Oh, my frozen maple-tree --
Leafless, almost lifeless.
Blizzard bends you down,
Falling snow stifles.
Like a drunken oaf
You stoop, for all I know,
Legs are stiff with frost-bite,
Ankle-deep in snow.
Well, I'm also getting
Weaker by the year.
Drunk, my feet unsteady...
What a shame, my dear!
Snowstorm for the music,
I -- what can be dumber --
To a couple of birchies
Sing of long-past summer.
And I dream that maybe
I'm just like this maple.
Only green and bushy,
Flower in my lapel.
No inhibitions,
Tree-trunk for my pillow,
Like a neighbor's wife,
I hug a pretty willow.
1988.