Five Hibernacula
Hibernacula: n. plural
Of humans: from the Latin, soldiers’ winter huts.
Of animals: shelters for hibernation.
Of plants: embryonic winter protection.
Of poetry: four words and four brief lines, generously spaced, often found in groups.
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birch moss
bog tea
given time and enough rain
it will reclaim
even your raised
bed
*
duskdark greatowl
barkeater bristles
a horned head swivels.
yellow eyes
eye the soft underbelly
of porcupine
*
garter snake
garden fringe
in a foot of snow,
gone under, you shiver,
shovel, add a layer to unseen
hibernacula
*
tall tops
larch fir
dark sails, slender spars:
the ship of the woods
speeds through blue
and spume
*
traps stacked
for sale
old Atlantic
rolls over, lobsters
head for the colder
side