A Frozen House
A frozen house
slow to accept my breath.
Morning slips in under the door
like a thin dime—gleamless,
slightly tarnished.
At noon a cold sun cuts through the sky
leaves a hole
of the palest watercolor blue.
An icy patch of snow begins to melt—
crystal crumbs, diamond rubble.
A stalk of dried meadowlark
quivers in the wind and I mistake it
for a wave of gaiety.
From a fallen branch of spruce
I break off a few leafy twigs.
Compose them in a vase
or thrust them aside?
Hours I compare to a clear plexiglass box
occupying an empty space.
Elaine Dillof is the author of Anna & Solomon, published by Farrar Straus Giroux Books For Young Readers (2014). Her poems have appeared in a handful of literary journals. She lives in Mystic, Connecticut and has recently turned to writing poetry.