A Poem by Joy Gaines-Friedler:

Winter: Go Ahead

Winter begins it all —

not spring that rips through frost,
but winter, where last night’s snow 
                            leaves a lawn of stars.          

No stops & starts of bees. 
No naïve leaves untouched by grief
No fear of fire or counterfeit friends. Snow,

white bodied bird, painter of silence,
dancer who loves the air,
                        reveal the details:

let the branches be layers and layers of tree. 

Tonight I will wake to hear the sound of an owl

(hope its call is answered by another –
      that her answer fills the cavity he lives in)

see the moon lay its Templar light
                         over everything

even the swing-set in its cold metal.

And like the half-frozen stems of reed-grass
that struggle through, let us realize
                                     snow as defense.

Tomorrow the sun will glaze the willow
that grows by the river.

We can never know what keeps it alive,
or what will come next to change ours.

Winter, go ahead.

Quiet the crickets. The mowers.
Lay your weight on the water,
crystallize the edges.

**Published on Vox Populi: A Public Sphere for Poetry, Politics, and Nature. Over 400,000 monthly users. Over 6,000 archived posts. Used with permission

A multiple Pushcart Nominee, Joy Gaines-Friedler’s work has won numerous awards and is published in over 100 literary magazines and journals including Poetica, Ekphrasis, Poetry East, The Kentucky Review, RATTLE, The Patterson Review, and others. Her work is also included in the anthology, Michigan in Poetry in Michigan, and The Bloomsbury Anthology of Jewish American Poetry.

Twenty years a professional photographer, Joy sees poetry as a natural extension of the photographic art form: both use images, contrast, tensions, a kind of rhythm and tone to convey what language alone, cannot. Visit her website for more.

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Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a writer, poet, and artist.
Learn more about her multi-award winning novel, In the Context of Love.
Learn more about her picture book, Gordy and the Ghost Crab.
Learn more about her poetry chapbook, Security

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