winter waning

the valleys that run east-west will show you which side faces the sun more often. the creek draws a dividing line; dark and wet on the slope that's a shady south, and grey and glowing where it faces north. the south slopes are where you smell the musk of bedding animals, the rot of early spring, the press of urgent sprouts; on the north slopes, water occasionally drips.

globs of snow still hang in some trees, like sloughing nests about to slip to the ground. a branch occasionally springs up, a startling motion, freed from the burden of crystalline moisture.

i can't tell if i'm cold or warm on days like this.

25 March 2018 17:28