IN THE WINTER,

 you’ve heard them

 those who say

 that they just CAN’T

 right?

 as if they are all

 desperate birds 

 who missed their

 flight

 But then they go out 

 and they breathe.

 and look

 and get so hot

 they have to take their jacket off

 and tie it around their waists

 and then they look around. 

 oh, 

 it’s different.

 the way the view does not rise in 

 california poppy red

 or monarch orange

 or green

 blades.

 it’s different,

 the way the brown trunks 

 rise from 

 the white

 beside 

 the black 

 ribbons

 it’s just

 different

 and it is simple

 and it is sweet

 A good interlude

 of quiet

 before 

 summer’s

 cacophany