POWER STRUGGLE
Heeding duty's clarion call,
hauling axe and wedge and maul;
listening to the chain saw's chatter,
watching all the woodchips scatter,
altering the state of matter,
lying where they fall.
Winter fuel enough for all,
adequate for every squall
arising from the waking giant.
Suppliant and self-reliant
both - determined and defiant
of December's pall.
Wrap up tighter in the shawl,
curl up in a fetal ball,
hear the rip and roar that's ringing
in the song the saw is singing,
sending sonnets skyward winging
over winter's wall.
-WAYNE KELLEY
E. Dorset, Vt.
from Disturbing the Earth