A WINTER OFFERING

A transient wind falters
in its leave taking and
return from a winter sky,
arcing above a low sun
and a world of diminished
light to whittle away at
the nearer edge of heaven,
exposing a reservoir of
breakable blue brighter
than even mid-summer
might provide, fore-
shadowing something
other than an unborn season
of want and longing; then,
stumbling blindly through
frosted air, comes back
in rudderless jubilation,
tripping across the silvering
hills and fields of trampled
grass, and slows to a
shamble as it empties the
all of it into these still
waters where its deliberate
pour slowly stirs the last
of autumn’s easy gold,
scoring the surface with
blossoms of harlequin
yellow, before the soft
tongues and rudderless
stems down-drift back
into their dark, fertile
beds where no light lives.

A two-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize and, more recently, the Best of the Net Award, John Muro is a resident of Connecticut, a graduate of Trinity College and a lover of all things chocolate. He has published two volumes of poems – In the Lilac Hour and Pastoral Suite – in 2020 and 2022, respectively. Both volumes were published by Antrim House and both are available on Amazon. John’s poems have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Acumen, Barnstorm, Euphony, Moria, River Heron, Sky Island and the Valparaiso Review. Instragram: @johntmuro.