1.
straw strap strip grip grill gill gild gold
2.
straw
stalk
haunt
field
realm
wealth
gold
3.
Surely easier in the saying
than the doing. You go
rolling down the hill
and for what? To find
whom?
4.
Time’s up. Retreat now into neutral gray
season, to reappear again when
ice needles thaw on
green of longer days
5.
Why straw?
Who is this evil dwarf?
When will I learn his name?
How can such difficulty teach?
What does it mean to be locked in a room,
bid by the King to spin gold?
6.
The winter fields are bare.
Across the sky a flash of amber,
a few piped notes.
The word for this time is:
Take up your bundle
and head for home.