Thawing snow in rivulets

Run down the sloping pavement

Revealing things we thought were gone

When cast out the car window

It’s old chewed gum, bird poop,

And french-fry cups and string

From popped balloons.

It’s plastic swizzle sticks from drinks

And matchbooks pressed flat.

The archeology of spring is

On the street that runs downhill

To the bar

Revealing a multitude of vices.

Cigarette butts, and needles,

And where this litter pools at the drain’s edge

Too large to fall between the vents

As after an Autumn rain,

When leaves layer

Preventing water to drain,

The Snow banks shrink as the sun

Travels east to west and wind

Carves the surfaces into spikes

And drips wither the heights.

 

©2 April 2017  Diane E. Dockum