Flags at the Corner

There are flags to mark a driveway
A banner in the snow, deep and wayward
They were put there by a widow once
when the strong October winds began to blow

Heralding the coming tides that would accompany winter
Warning that there might just be a rose beneath that snowbank
or that the corner of the house might be closer
that it may appear

Now the flags are tattered
and faded and look
more like a picture I once saw
in a travelogue
of a monastary in Tibet
high and rocky against a pure blue sky
and from its walls
were strung colorful flags
small rags no larger than perhaps 8 inches square
which lit up the pages with their muted tones
and with their resiliency
paid homage to the hands
which with care
had chosen each
and had offered it up
to the wind

The same care that went into those high banners in that far land
surly must be in the placing of these corner marks
just down the road from me
Fading flags to mark a lane
leaving nothing this winter
to chance.