And even as you are thinking this
you hear the grains of snow
beginning to fall among the dried leaves.
The white crystals catch
in the bronze and yellow blossoms
and they do not melt.
The women look to the sky through their white hair
and bundle down into their collars.
The men take their arms and hurry them along
like so many shadows floating among indigo trees
rustling like a breeze over the fallen pears-
brown lumps dusted with new snow. All this
in a long New England evening
in a twilight
that lasts and lasts beyond all reason.
STUDY IN WH ITE
The photographer is going all out
for a study in white.
He hopes for a silky, crowlike negative
with layers upon layers of black
spreading from edge to edge.
So for a setting
he has chosen an old farm kitchen
in a northern province
on a perfect winter day.
