Frost has laid a hard bed
Sprinkled here and there
With polished diamonds
In overt invitation to the sky
To open
To let fall
The first feathering flakes
Of a blanketing snow
Alert to its imminence
The robin, finches
And the youngest crows
Flicker from tree to table
And back to branch
Fitfully gathering
Small crumbs of warming
© John Mackie, Easter Tomloan Farmhouse, December 2009
