December 2023
Bio Note: Born in the midst of Covid, my book, Winter at a Summer House recently had its two-year birthday. When I saw the theme of "Winter Wanderland" for this issue, I thought the book's title poem would be a perfect match, offering us a way to both celebrate and express gratitude to all the support and encouragement received from Verse-Virtual and fellow poets and poetry lovers.
Winter at a Summer House
The walls shrink close,
the pipes heave a last shudder,
and snow seals the hush.
Ghosts huddle under blankets,
shivering through long nights
to the tap, tap, tap
of a loose shutter.
When a floorboard groans
at an unexpected touch
of light, they fling off
their covers and roam
the house, waking up others
dozing under eaves,
in closets.
They slip outside to the jetty
where one of them hovers
on the point, then dives,
and they cheer, their silvery
cries soaring as she rises
and plummets on the swells
of the white winter sea.
©2023 Mary Beth Hines
Editor's Note: If this poem(s) moves you please consider writing to the author (email address above) to say what it is about the poem you like. Writing to the author is what builds the community at Verse Virtual. It is very important. -JL