2025, Days, Ohio River Valley Literature, poetry, winter

Days 2025: Winter (63-65)

Day 63

metal hulls dance, bump on winter waves
like old lovers at a class reunion

the wind acts bow and rosin
against the lines, they sing

Day 64

it’s lonely without the nightwalkers
they do not show themselves to me

spring is on the heel
but not yet splashed in the sunrise

and there is talk of what’s coming
though no one listens

Day 65

the air kissed
with a renewed sun

roaming herds of joggers,
placard wearing tourists

the momentum of the season
building: listen to the boiler burn

deep in the soul machine

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2025, Days, Ohio River Valley Literature, poetry, winter, Working Class Literature

Days 2025: Winter (51-55)

Day 51

[52]

the air all sun and ice
all the warmth there is

shine in the constellations
of my family’s eyes

Day 52

a bit of a thaw
uncovers the wasteland

we construct, call
a civilization


Day 53


Yeorgi, are the plans finished?

selah


Day 54

the river will tell
said the old captain
what it needs when

Day 55

one with the mud roll back, old clay
into the river

birth us
a brand new world

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2025, Days, Ohio River Valley Literature, poetry, winter

Days 2025: Winter (48-50)

A Day Before 52

Day 48

the universe is infinite and two feet tall
laughs and draws herself
holding hands with Baba Yaga

Day 49

given the state of humanity
I place my hope in monsters

Day 50

[A Day Before 52]

Today at home: a birthday gift I’ve given myself
during this cold, wet season; the silence falls

in snow and refracted sunbeams. safe
with hot coffee and warm socks
I am anxious about eating eggs

so I showered and shaved
like the men from my childhood did —

whether or not the world ends.
Then, meditating on the three states of water,
offer up a thankful prayer

that the ice did not stretch its way
into my veins: the gift given me today.

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