RECOGNIZING THE SIGNS THAT AN AMULET HAS FAILED

Splintered corduroy roads.

A village, less than a heap of bricks, erased altogether by three inches

of snow.

A mask, repairing itself.

Hail.

The same surroundings at dusk, closing in also.

The Summary riddled with conflicting errors.

Careful weeping on the other side of the traverse.

A man in a felt hat with markings walking slowly in a northerly direc-

tion carrying a tin pail.

A silence between when I ask and dusk.

Then the flutter of tiny papers

flushed from a small wood.