Chuck Salmons
Miasma
after Hoarfrost in Moonlight
monotype by Alice Carpenter, 2019
We see formless frost in clouds above,
a crystalline swath hovering.
Its echo burns from rooftops
lustrous in the pitch of night.
It takes but a few degrees of resolve
to warm it, call it dew. We grit our teeth,
venture out with gloved hands,
inhale the heavy cold, hear
frost-laden grass crunch beneath our feet.
In silvery stillness and moonglow glaze,
the ephemera of nuance reveals
our unknowing. We itch for sunlight,
for morning beset by birdsong and longing,
the shudder and thaw of a world in green.
Hoarfrost in Moonlight is viewable on her website at:
https://www.alicecarpenter.com/uploads/5/5/4/1/55414145/landscape-19-2_orig.jpg.
Bio
Chuck Salmons has published two collections, both chapbooks--Stargazer Suite and Patch Job--in addition to individual poems in numerous journals and anthologies. He currently serves as President of Ohio Poetry Association and is the recipient of a 2018 Ohio Arts Council Individual Artists Excellence Award for poetry. You can learn more at www.ChuckSalmons.com.