Original typescript of February's Forgotten Mittens and Feed by Raymond Knister.
February's Forgotten Mitts
Shep lies long-bodied upon the auburn grass—
It has been dried in the glance of the sudden sun.
As you pass he wrinkles a sideward eye to the astounding blue of heaven.
Half a mile away the year's first cackling of hens, aroused from the cold.
The boughs of the elm and maple wait, expectant.
The fields and roads rejoice in slithering mud over the frost.
Somewhere a well-clear, golden echo of children's voices crying and calling.
After dinner Pete looks around for his mitts.
He has lost them about the barn this morning:
Spring has flung forward an unringed hand.
(After Exile, page 6)
Part of Seven Poems, published in The Midland: A Magazine of the Middle West in 1922. (Volume 8, Issue 12)