a car alarm travels more than a mile
through the frozen forest
where a coyote left
a neat line of tracks
and water under the snow
has its own agenda
fork and branch
so many ways to be dendritic
a squirrel lifts a black walnut
from its icy grave
carries it high into an oak
to chisel out the shell
a carolina wren sings
in a minor key
having survived a cold snap
by snuggling up to my furnace
i wonder if he loves
the hollow for its echoes
dooryard adjacent
to the unkempt wild
things growing just where
and as they please
which snow managed to turn
into a simulacrum of order
until today’s rain
soft and full of pauses
a new calendar with all
its empty beds