Dog Walk

Dog Walk

Clicking of dog nails on boardwalk
creaking under our weight
signals frozen wood.

My breath escapes, white puffs disappear
in the space before my eyes.
Fingertips sense Arctic tundra,
toes next in line for frostbite.

Overhead brown the grid of sparrows
continues in dashes and dots,
telephone line roosting.

Dog circles,
knowing not which way is up,
watching sky turn dark with movement.

With curving wings,
Noise of gulls carries over gray horizon
And steaming the ocean gives itself to the frigid air.

Silvery arcs of overhead boughs,
magic crystals encase
winter’s seductive eternal sleep.

I question my sanity
as one foot follows the other.
My canine friend brings me to nature
even when I most resist.