<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="c-feature-hd" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h1 class="c-hdgSans_2 c-mix-hdgSans_inline c-hdgSans" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; line-height: 1.231; font-weight: normal;"><font size="4" class="">What the Frost Casts Up </font></h1></div><div class="c-feature-hd" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h1 class="c-hdgSans_2 c-mix-hdgSans_inline c-hdgSans" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; line-height: 1.231; font-weight: normal;"><font size="4" class=""><br class=""></font></h1></div><div class="c-feature-bd" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.3;"><div class="isActive o-poem" data-view="PoemView" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative;"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class="">A crown of handmade nails, as though <br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class="">there were a house here once, burned, <br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class="">where we’ve gardened for fifteen years; <br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class="">the ceramic top of an ancient fuse; <br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class="">this spring the tiny head of a plastic doll— <br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class="">not much compared to what they find <br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class="">in England, where every now and then <br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class="">a coin of the Roman emperors, Severus <br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class="">or Constantius, works its way up, but <br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class="">something, as though nothing we’ve <br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class="">ever touched wants to stay in the earth, <br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class="">the patient artifacts waiting, having been lost <br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class="">or cast away, as though they couldn’t bear <br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class="">the parting, or because they are the only <br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class="">messengers from lives that were important once, <br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class="">waiting for the power of the frost <br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class="">to move them to the mercy of our hands.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-indent: -1em;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Ed Ochester</div><div class=""><font face="American Typewriter" class=""><span style="font-size: 21px;" class=""><br class=""></span></font></div></div></div></div></body></html>