slushy mushy
sloppy slobber
early winter
drool.

yes, drooling and droopy roads all 
dark and melty,
be-splattered be-salted
be-friended with stamping feet,
black and white and speckled
prints of puddled boots,
snow-capped grass and
leaves all soaked, surprised,
then buried.

and me without my burrow....
the roads slickly becoming black
and there is no Where to huddle, 
no warm-brown bear and badger 
hole 
to wrap around these creaky croaking time-warped 
bones.

not ready, 
no cob-webbed breathing darkness,
no earthen lair...
just plummeting mercury and
layered seething winds.