To Waken an Old Lady

　　Old age is

　　a flight of small

　　cheeping birds

　　skimming

　　bare trees

　　above a snow glaze.

　　Gaining and failing

　　they are buffeted

　　by a dark wind --

　　But what?

　　On harsh weedstalks

　　the flock has rested --

　　the snow

　　is covered with broken

　　seed husks

　　and the wind tempered

　　with a shrill

　　piping of plenty.