sprouting paper whites.
my birthday present is flowers
that like to come out in the snow.

that’s my self portrait
on the front of this book.
well, the original book this was written in
had a self portrait.
this is the poem on the last page,
the first offspring’s backside.
i’ll fix a few words on a few pages.  you won’t know
which is which, but don’t worry-
i don’t know every one either.

another season passed with a day
of ice skating and four snowstorms.
to my knowledge we broke the record