We stay and its ours
No snow yet this fall
but the gardens are just dirt now,
nothing left to eat except
invisible parsnips lurking below.
The snowbirds are fleeing South
to endless summer, Florida,
Arizona, Mexico, the Caribbean.
Some of us actually like winter.
It’s quiet and offers its own beauty,
chiaroscuro or blazing white.
The real birds flock to feeders,
competing with squirrels.
In summer, flowers give color;
in winter, birds. Flashes of red
on woodpecker heads, bellies.