recorded · 1879 · north noemic · almanac-margin
the season of the first cold cup. the season of the steady rain. the season the cat sleeps on the stair. the season nobody is well. the season the bread is mostly crust. the season of the longer dark. the season after — the small clean one, before the year remembers its name.
a counting song from the almanac-keepers, who divided the year not into four but into as many small seasons as a year can hold. each line names a season the calendar does not. the eighth is shared with for the unhurried — it is the corner left for the small birds.
sung most often in frost, when the small seasons are easiest to feel, and the year is at its most forgetful.