In the Night Snow

The mother’s heart twitched, like
a baby bird at the unknown sound,
each time her son coughed.
Why the addition;
he’s just had the surgery
and needs to recover.

She peeps out the window.
in the gray dawn,
the pine tree, the dry flower garden,
and the clutter of the toys have disappeared
under the snow, like a white lot
waits for a new home to be built.

His cough paused.
The white lawn, with the snow all night long,
hums a silent song for him and
helps him breathe the freshened air.

©Byung A. Fallgren