They dream impossible dreams of loquat seeds
(Gold flecked and slippery)
And clipper ships pitched on sea foam green
Hibiscus reds and you and me

We kicked a new path back to the St. Marie
Past snowmen, quiet and listening
Brightly colored birds flitted past their coal for eyes
I took it for a twinkle

If they could have held all that you said
In their densely mitten packed cold
Then words would have fallen out
Come Spring like spoons and pistols and pots and pans
And train wrecks and split shots and marching bands

And canaries light on corncob pipes
And would not look so bright if not so cold

They dream impossible dreams of bitter sweet brevity
And standing at the foot of Niagara Falls
And buck and doe and chief and squaw
And the path we kicked back to St. Marie
Past snowmen, quiet and listening

Canaries tracing loopholes against the gray
You took it for a tangle, you took me for a tangle
If they could have held all that you said

Canaries light on corncob pipes
And would not look so bright if not so cold