Oldest trick

In the middle of the winter

the Christmas wreath and poinsettias 

on the two crosses

in front of the culvert

might make your eyes assume

the white dots all around on the ground

are snow

and that more will come and the sad scene

will be covered in white

which will obscure the losses

that the pair of crosses represent

and that the ornament on the wreath - 

a snowman, a plastic snowflake, holly leaves - 

will vanish in a cold layer,

and so will the red bows and the two 8-petaled

metal flowers pressed into the lumpy concrete

at the base of the larger cross.

But if that's what happened,

your eyes just wanted to believe the best -

because that white is only cotton

blown by harsh wind

and this winter

the only white will be from

pieces of lost cotton

and no snow will soften the scene,

which will remain harsh until spring.

US 84

Lubbock County, Texas