First day since last
winter I've been
cold enough to wear a sweatshirt and a song
starts up, "one of these
mornings, honey,"
a train
whistling from below, "you're gonna
miss me,"
a start
from winter blowing in, the leaves
down, more blankets soon,
the gas heat on that every year
gives us asphyxiation fear and so we crack
the window nights and
huddle close,
"so long as we’re together."
MY MOTHER AT 91
After the fire burns off
the smoke, the sticks
flame and warm, the day
comes into itself,
a dove
perched on a branch,
the cats sleeping
in the pyracantha thicket,
clothes drying on the line.
If we could see past
the human,
we'd see ourselves more
clearly as wood
glowing with a slow
combustion
that burns off
the rage and resentment
and leaves us
dry
and warm.
Joseph Somoza has lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico, for 35 years, where he used to teach at New Mexico State University. He lives with his wife, Jill, a painter. He has published several books of poetry over the years, most recently Shock of White Hair (Sin Fronteras Press, 2007).
