Sometimes Winter Wears Tennis Shoes

I turn my back for just
two seconds
and Christmas trees spring up?
and the streets run slick with rain?
and everyone retreats to their homes?
with sweater armor?
and I catch a cold?
and gloom steals the upper hand?
and we enter the season of thought instead of action?

just two seconds
mind you
barely enough time
to
think about sneezing

and then to do it.