permutations on the solstice

the reflection of green sun
on a ginger jar of breakfast tea
pokes the frozen eye
but does not raise the blind.

a clawless newt
with clownish spots
struggles forty feet
to the bleak summit
of a leafless tree.

the tools of recreation
are safely shelved
where the wood has not blistered
in a winter lacking laughter.

in the spring,
death will be reborn.