Floaters clog the canal.
No simple skim coat here.
Serious icebergs descending
deep into the water.
Seabirds settle on the ice
to catch a ride, or to have a table
on which to eat a newly caught fish.
All still speaks of winter at the canal.
But in our garden, a different message.
Tobey the turtle has broken free.
Our stone guardian of the garden 
has shed his coat of snow,
and has sent out a call
that he’s ready for Spring.