At a grocery store above Poulsbo
I wheeled the wobbly cart out slow
to see the season’s bright first snow
of this winter’s logbook yet.

It started its fluffy, wet downfall
and I should be worried if I’d even get
back uphill to my old solid house at all.

I was thinking of resolutions, poems, hopes,
and not bald tires on slippery slopes.
Then I wondered how a boater copes.

People on the hills above Liberty Bay
worry, plan ahead, spread cat litter,
have shovels and blowers to blow flakes away,
and even toss salt to make tire traction better.

Sailors and captains, pleasure crafts galore
couldn’t care less about ice piles ashore.
They know how to subsist for weeks at sea or more:
In their larders they always have loads.

Winter in Poulsbo Marina is always a breeze.
Boats are safe in slips, not slippery roads,
if you don’t let your head and fingertips freeze.

Janetmarie Valiga
Poulsbo