In the Snow Cold Night

by Charles Rossiter

It’s past midnight, deep winter,

snow higher than hubcaps

covers the chopping block.

In a beach chair in the yard

I look to the lonely moon,

and watch my breath

rise and disappear.

The sky is like Idaho

it’s so dark.

Spirits of the past drift in:

Erika, Nan, my old roommate Fred.

I’m relaxed but not tired,

in that pleasant state

on the edge of sleep.

I open a beer,

adjust my expectations to zero,

lean back and look up

at the ink black sky.

~

Charles Rossiter, National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship recipient, has been featured on NPR, the Chicago Blues Festival and at the Geraldine Dodge Poetry Festival in NJ. He has traveled the country as 1/3 of 3 Guys from Albany, performance poetry group, and his latest collection is Green Mountain Meditations from FootHills Publishing. He lives and writes in Bennington, VT. Find out more at poetryspokenhere.com.