cold – The Morning Porch

Wednesday March 15, 2017

Dave Bonta March 15, 2017 2

Bitter cold with a wind. I sit with feet propped up as usual while snowflakes needle my cheek and pile up behind the ridges in my jeans.

Dave Bonta February 26, 2017

Cold weather has finally returned. Small birds are bathing in the stream despite the iron wind, shaking themselves dry in a dogwood bush.

Dave Bonta January 7, 2017

Deep cold. Two chickadees invade the porch, fluttering noisily above my head. A downy woodpecker excavates breakfast from a resonant tree.

Dave Bonta December 31, 2016

Cold and very still. The sun climbs through the ridgetop trees as slowly and bristly as a porcupine of light.

Dave Bonta December 28, 2016

The cold has returned, but not soon enough to save the snow cover. The chipmunk darts across the road, cheeks puffed out with weed seeds.

Dave Bonta December 19, 2016

January has come early: the icy snowpack hard as a brick, a squirrel already in heat. A pursuing male pauses to groom his face and genitals.

Dave Bonta March 2, 2016 6

Cold (-6C). The wind drives pin-pricks of snow against my cheek. I squint at the sun through bare oak branches. It’s good to be back.