Wintry Alley

Tris Tree

WINTRY ALLEY

Dim in a wintry alley, white by the sodden snow

My last cringing fancy lights his lamp to go,

Bears his swaying lantern glimpsing through the rails-

Shadows yawning cat-like by the empty pails,

Voices leaking slyly underneath a door,

Two old women drinking on the cellar floor.

Raise the broken knocker, tap and wait in vain

While the silence is colliding with the shudder-rain.

Two old women chirping on the cellar floor-

Close the gaping window, bolt the windy door.

Tris Tree