Susan LaffertyWinter grey. And snow remains. On the edges. In corners.
Hidden from the sun. By shelter and shadow.
Held captive by cold. Temperatures never rising quite far enough.
Winter’s fringes remain visible today. From where I sit. Looking through glass.
My mother’s response when things didn’t go as planned?
I can hear it now.
“The best-laid plans of mice and men…” her voice trails off. Not completing the quote from the poet, Robert Burns.
But I know. And the words run through my head.
“…often go awry.”
Crowds. Criss-crossing street intersections. Train stations. Shopping malls.
In multiple directions.
Pressing up escalators. Hiking staircases. Moving ever forward into trains. Onto sidewalks. Through subways.
Crowds. In your face. Up close. Yet often silent. Solitary.
Eyes on their phones.
Looking down. Or away. Staring off into the distance.
