Night notes
In a Florida nighttime
Temperature plummets
In a tree’s lifetime
Elder pine releases hold.
In a moment’s sleeptime
Aboral limb crash down.
In cosy blanket of down time
Dreams continue to cocoon.
c. Jan Godown Annino, all rights reserved
In sudden reaction to chill air (28 predicted, 30 F realized) our neighbor’s graciously tall pine tree, in the middle of the night, dropped limbs upon us. They were long but not lumberjack wide and yet still pierced our usually reliable reverse-air heat/cool unit – otherwise known as an air conditioner. People here don’t have furnaces. Or baseboard heat or radiators. Or whatever else systems those in Iced Lands employ in homes and businesses.
Following one 30 F night, fabulous Harper-Revell repair folks assured us we could safely dial up heat. Fabulous Mr. Gilmore responded fast to check on the branch that settled on the roof. (In a previous year one pierced it.)
Glory be, we were lucky.
What a lovely poem you wrote out of such potential disaster! Glad the damage wasn’t worse. Hard to believe it was as cold in your area as it was here in Pennsylvania! Stay safe, Jan.
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Yikes! I hope your neighbor is open to some tree pruning requests…no one should have to expect to try to survive more of these nights. 30 is too, too cold for you Floridians. I hope you had a little hot cocoa in the back of the cupboard. I do like the idea of time being a type of down. Lovely language in your poem.
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