Connecticut Woods in Winter

Brown and gray canvas
of stark verticals
and crisp horizontals

scenic, roadside sights
between black trunks
and tannish, beech-leaved trees

artful stone walls
mounded long ago
crisscrossed exactly

a woodland still life
wrested from forests
by work-callused hands.

Puppies

Tail-wagging aspect
pick-me-up pleas
eager for attention

tummy tickling
soft-paw clutching
for roly-poly fun

one a he
the other she
as four-legged twosome

scampering, tumbling
hurtling, hugging
with loving physicality.