New England Diary

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'First smell of mud'

"In crow's-foot patterns, like deltas

seen from the air, the freeze runs off.

 

Five flawless days, under an azure sky,

the townsfolk come out to look. They nod

 

knowingly at the first smell of mud.

Jacketless, we hop from bog to bog.''

 

-- From "January Thaw,'' by Allan Block