Wreath

for the new year

Wreath 
(for the New Year)


Burrow beneath each
syllable 
the poem unfolds 
not for warmth 
or consolation 
but meaning
cleaved from seamless dark.

*

Sanctuary lamp
flame flails red—
wordlessly breathing.

*

The day after Christmas—
sunrise through the prism
of an icicle.

*

As if afloat in
the new snow—
an old stone grotto.
Our Lady’s
face gazes beyond 
the glare, draws 
the silence to mind. 

*

An inhalation 
and exhalation of light—
the cloud-shuffled sun.

*

Winter’s brittle
vacancies; wind
seething 
pines.