In Explanation

 The old woman in the clouds

tosses evidence of her existence

out the window—

buckets of rain water,

and bed feathers

shaken out like flakes

in early December.

She lets the birds out of their cages

in April,

and sweeps with such vehemence

the trees on earth bend.

She leaves the light burning long

on a summer night;

in winter, when the days grow short

she turns in early,

leaving us all in the dark.