In Spring the gardener finds out death– What fruit tree limbs did not overwinter. Some stems twig and bud and bloom, Some stems splinter. I lost a limb some seasons back From my own flesh–my firstborn daughter. Time healed the break, but I still lack The apples of her laughter. __________________________________________________ Adam Greenwood lives with [...]
Black seams skitter Through mantled rock, Crisscrossing mountains. Encrusted veins of blackened heart Hide within its poisoning death Until exhumed by grave diggers, Faces black with toil-worn greed. Â Black smoke bellows In high desert air, Seeding clouds. Sooted walls of blackened lung Hide within its poisoning death Until exhaled by grave fillers, Faces white [...]
Even through the harsh blues of winter, it manages to breathe. Stretching its naked arms across the sky. A living smile. Waiting to be blessed by the sun. ___________________________________ For Huffman’s bio and links to additional poetry, go here. Photo by John Firth via Wikimedia Commons.
The nightstorms are the worst. More terrifying. The sharp shocks of light. They leave a scar. Inside. A memory. An omen. To remember often. How much they look like cracks. ___________________________________ For Huffman’s bio and some additional poetry, go here. Photo by National Severe Storms Laboratory via Wikimedia Commons.
At first it could be any shore. Rocky and a little dark maybe, but still intriguing. Then a flash of green throws your eyes off center. Then another. Until the ground you were about to walk is walking for you. Is waiting for you. With a million teeth hidden in a permanent smile. ___________________________________ A.J. [...]
Against an autumn background I fall again into pastures not mine, dispossessed. Through young woods I walk (the old giants have all been felled) and grow tired; the footpath is overgrown and hard to keep. I stop and rest upon an old pasture wall— where are the sheep, the range? I am this stone wall, [...]
Cicada settles on the sidewalk to wait the final embrace of opossum’s maw or the sweet reduction of ants. The bulging eyes fold in on themselves, arthritic death clenches once nimble wings, and beetles rush to sip the cooling ichor of life, while dragonflies above dance the wake. And I walk by and by and [...]
_____________________________ Will Reger has contributed several poems to WIZ. You can find his bio here . Photo by Shane Anderson via Wikimedia Commons, courtesy of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
These are the woods Where my mother played, Her playhouse—an outline of Stones on the ground. Beside the creek Her father gardened, But the water rose And spread his seeds Among the trees. Summer was the time For berry picking. We each took a bucket, Walked into the woods And filled it with berries. The [...]
Her race presumes Imperious cuteness Conquers all—even Monday snowfall when, From her comfortable nest At the top of the stairs, This scroll of fur and claw Uncoiled, shot outside, Her eye distilled For the hunt: tiger demon Fell to winter’s ambush— Snow knives, hawk Shadow circling, Coyotes lambent Among the weeds, iron Curve of sky—and [...]