The theme of “Winter Saturday” by Earle Birney is unfilled expectations. The poem describes the emergence of folks on a Saturday night during a deep cold winter. They are in search of relief from cabin fever after a snow storm. The author uses the metaphor of caterpillars emerging to go into their cocoons as the people head to their vehicles.
Furred from the farmhouse
like caterpillars from wood
they emerge, the storm blown out,
and find in the Ford their cocoon.
With high expectations for a Saturday night in town, the people make their way from the warmth of their homes. They are dressed up, “furred,” and ready to take over the town for a night. While in town they flutter about like “moths.” Some of them attend movies or go to a local establishment to dance. By the end of the evening, they realize their expectations were not met. Winter still surrounds them as they head home on the cold windy night that portends of more snow.
But lights fail, time is false,
the town was less than its glow.
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