the winter anthology
Vol. 5
Ronald Dzerigian
The Tin Woodsman
It rains madness outside
my little cabin. My dog
is barking at a ghost
as the Chopin record stops.
I begin to eat memories.
I walk out, drift into the creek.
I leave with all the leaves
and ash from brush fires.
I drift down into the basins
where my hunger remains, because
I am tin, weak of heart,
and dumb as rain.