Winter's Long Night Poem by Matthew Roeser

A shudder on a winter's day
Where the ice sticks in keyholes
and the sky dreams in blue

when the bird, child down
squats in King Richard's haven
all along the sympathetic node

a hilltop of nervous energy
chilly responses to cure
the searing secrets

a manipulation of white marble and steel
and a little dog's desire for a cozy fireplace
this house creaks of bone and blood
where only door mice drift in and out

while we sing in our rocking chairs
songs of high seas and pirate double crosses
that will always get there before we do.