Lacewing views oblivion In the dew- planeted threads of Charlotte’s house the waves wish to be iced the shores wish to be warm the longest local road is a frozen Styx and the raven thinks he’s Charon carrying black the carrion-bird cackles a claxon for the silent maelstrom of emergencies craneflies waltz in cathedrals of frost sharpening the transient infinities of mucus in winter the postman delivers gulls disemboweled on the thorns of slow trauma in winter the policemen place live coals in their boots which throb like the eyes of a baby cold and cribbed and quacking in a chemist’s dripping doorway in winter the cows gather in grey hollows to tell tales of terror their dreams of bolt-guns conveyor- belts,the smiling of knives and the rumble of exhaust in winter things kill other things this winter gives