After the Last Snow

Psychedelic DogHe slushed through the yard with the dog, Mosey,
looking for the salsa garden covered with snow.
A foggy down comforter was spread
across the cold compost pile.
Mosey gave it the once-over and waggled on.

Through the grey branches of the bald maple,
the wintry sun dripped a wet, molting light.
“I think I’ve found the salsa garden,”
Mosey barked, wagging through a snowdrift.

He found some green garlic starts,
planted last fall in hope of an orange day.
Over on the frozen patio sat the fable
of a red tablecloth and a bottle of sweet wine,
Mosey dozing in a patch of warm light.

He hears voices, someone’s recipe:
“Fresh cilantro, hot pepper, and black beans,
eight tender Roma plum tomatoes,
an inch of basil, a sprig of rosemary,
a dash of black pepper and a pinch of salt,
a dark green jalapeno,
and a mellow, cool lime.”
Sevenish on the heat scale, he thinks,
two fat, purple candles melting the snow,
Mosey barking, “Let’s go back inside now.”

They entered the kitchen through the side door,
dog wet noses sloshing snow and water,
dripping all over the stale linoleum.

8 Comments

  1. It’s all there, just beneath the slush. Lovely slushy images.

    Like

    1. Joe Linker says:

      Yes, and how the earth slowly emerges as the rain erases the snow.

      Like

  2. I just fell in love with Mosey. Lush images – like this …
    … Through the grey branches of the bald maple,
    the wintry sun dripped a wet, molting light …

    Like

    1. Joe Linker says:

      Thx, Ahsen. Lush season.

      Like

  3. A fable of a red table cloth – great poem, sounds like springs a coming ;)

    Like

    1. Joe Linker says:

      in Just
      [when the ice of an in-just-ice melts]
      spring
      when the whispies of winter comb down
      just before we head
      fast toward the ignis fatuus of summer…

      thx for coming back & reading!

      Like

  4. bristlehound says:

    Ah! Joe, this is great. I can see Mosey in my minds eye and he is wonderful. As a dog lover, many times, a dog has provided special moments throughout my own life and to imagine Mosey snuffing around seeking out the truffles of spring is a delight.
    I trust your freshly sought salsa provided that much needed hint of freshness to what sounds rather like an Italian Bolognese and dinner was a hit. A nice Pinot would be acceptable here. B

    Like

    1. Joe Linker says:

      Thx, B. Yeah, the Pinot possibly instead of the sweet white. Rewrote that line a few times. Still not sure it’s right. Thx for coming back & reading.

      Like

Leave a Comment

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.