Northern Exposure

The river is wide, dark and thick
as oil, harshly roiled in the wind
that whips the gathering clusters
of snow so fiercely that soon  the
river is completely lost to sight
in the opaquely dominant white
of a storm affirming winter's
final arrival.  The thousands of
geese complacently settled on the
frozen, grassy banks beside the
river to delicately harvest edible
fall detritus must surely now regret
their negligent tardiness to depart.