Still Life with Mist

Missing in the mist,

leafless treetops;

mist on the move,

creeping clouds:

wetting the fur

of pussy-willows

wiping their silvery noses

with each other's paws

in the breeze;

mist draping majestically over

the Great Blue Heron,

and rolling down

the mated geese;

mist dripping into ripples

on the gray pond;

or is new life

churning up from below,

beneath the beavered trees?