Riding in a Car, Winter

    

Riding in a Car, Winter

 

The clouds were shaped like presidents;

            A friend said snow was coming.

I said the presidents were shaped like clouds;

            A standard

For political life …

You said the houses were closed against winter

                        Like granaries—only Odysseus

Has the key. I wished the story of hunger

            Could be funny—just turn a phrase—

The rich have all the cake; the poor run off

With the keys. The startling thing

            About the sky in northern latitudes

Is the tendency to see scripture 

In the mackerel and mare’s tails—

                        So there are gods under every leaf.

Stories circulate. Plain men starve. 

The clouds resemble waves

            Returning from far shores

Where money is useless.

The clouds were shaped like presidents;

                        A friend said snow was coming.

 

S.K.