Retired

Story ID:	1185
Written by:	toni giarnese (bio, contact, other stories)
Story type:	Poem
Location:	new hartford ct usa
Year:	2006

Retired

I keep the woods in view,
brown leaves on early winter trees;
notice a rabbit crouch under the pine,
watch grape leaves darken and
birch trunks lean against the snow.

I sort the hawks into categories:
Cooper’s, red-tailed, sparrow and sharp-shinned;
hear geese call, woodpeckers jeer,
cold lean birds light out from the spreading oak.

Icy needles hit the window,
wind slips in through cracks in quilted silence.

I get the moon up,
turn the stars on,
listen to Coltrane while life hurtles by,

keep it all going right.