The snowfall made no difference
to the tulips:
they lift their exquisite faces
to the sky,
they sway and flash 
their coral brilliance
and dance contentedly
in the cold, cold wind.

Oh, to be the blessed bagel,
whole unto itself,
surrounding nothing
from its absolute beginning,
skin anointed in lye,
and so unlike the tender donut
skimmed from a vat
of boiling oil,
forever missing
its soft, sweet center.