Page 82 - WCM 2019 Winter

Vigil
Shoulders wrapped in afghans and quilts, we feel three a.m. cold pinching cheeks and fingers.
We stand close on the deck in slippered feet, excited for glimpses of meteor showers,
the Leonids, in the aisles of our shadowed pines. Tilting back our heads, we scan the dark sky;
its veil shimmers with stars tossed like glitter across its silk – “True diamonds!” he comments. A Telstar satellite winks its path through the tiara of the veil, and we grin at the contrast to nature. Sitting, we lean into the warmth of each other, spying here a star’s fall and there an airplane’s arc. Paling lips wonder, where is the promised event? “There!” I breathe, and beads of racing light cascade through the spangle of stars steady as silver on black. We catch each others’ awe, and my hand slides into the pocket of his, as the veils of light and cold crown our bare heads and brush by our eyelashes. Chilled, we leave the Leonid princes to their capers, vowing to watch their dance again. Sleep invites, and we November guests trail our quilts to bed.
Michalene Hague
Inspiration
Like snows, the pages we’ve written pile up. Like poems, the lines in winter track us, Drifting or turned to brown slush. Weather Freezes thoughts we can’t shush,
Melts scattered snow we forgot Mattered, whether we want or not.
Eric Dibner
First Snow
Of first snow head to toe
flakes that blow yes to no.
The new puppy wakes at dawn.
As he romps in this white fluff for the first time, I see it through his little eyes and contemplate the wonder
of first snow.
It happens every year, in one of the
berrrr months, and its wonder never ceases, how the world is suddenly blanketed, tucked in for the winter
head to toe.
He tentatively licks it, tastes it,
shakes his head with the cold of it, and plows, full force, into a drift of it, powder stuck
to his black nose, trying to catch
flakes that blow.
To see it new is a miracle,
to learn that the whole world can reinvent itself overnight, that things can change
so unexpectedly from
yes to no.
Lisa Moore
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