In the Shallows of the River

Tom Hennen

 After one o’clock in the afternoon

 Ice still 

An eighth of an inch thick. 

Night never disappears. 

A glimpse of fur 

Under the dark brush on the bank.

 The aspens unmoving. 

The goldenrod too 

Is stripped down to its bare stalk. 

In the cold 

Even my thoughts 

Have lost their foliage

 And appear alone 

Dry and narrow In the flat air.