Ground Hog Day

Folded into the legends of Pennsylvania folk,

Made to feed talk in winter’s coldest days

Lives the odd and incredible custom—

Reading  the shadow cast on this coldest of days

Will tell us about winter’s span.

But not the shadow of an elm or birch

Not the shadow of a post or gate—

The shadow cast by winter’s sun

By an earth-dwelling  rodent,

The shadow cast upon frozen ground,

The shadow whose interpretation

Will be left to those who will engage

In winter talk in the winter cold.

Will the groundhog see its shadow?

Will the folk priests proclaim

That the shadow has been seen?

--February 2, 2013