Winter Solstice

Yes, Sweetness,
a white shadow shimmers
on the X-ray
of the future. Yes,
the children cry out
in their sleep. Yes, thirst
follows fever. Sweetness,
I’ll tell you
how the animals
come like shadows
to a river,
how they bow
in darkness, feel
for the water
with their wide, patient
tongues, how their wet muzzles
glitter. No, Sweetness,
in this story, night
is not its own prognosis.