Now that I have isolated myself

And no longer visit town

Alone all day in the house with the cat

I am pleased that it is not the dead of winter

So if I like

I can put on a coat and hat

To walk around outside

Stepping on dead grass and broken twigs and scattered gravel

Without getting chilled

By teeth-chattering ice.

Today the wind is gentle

The snowbanks are melted

Except for wet patches on the north slope

The lake is scattered with ducks and eagles

I stalk all around the house shadowed by

My cat

Waiting for Spring.