"Poet in the House"

Gary Beck

Stirrings

Winter fears are moments when awakenings
are cold relics stored in attics, rustling
only at cleaning time or in forbidden forays
up dreaded stairs, creaking with temptation,
pausing the early frost with entertainments
ended only by footsteps of discovery.
Impatient snappings of the wind in frigid stutters
smirking that we may not come again
touch with stiff snow-bleached fingers,
imagined yearnings in the ice-deep silence,
covered snug from chin to toes by memories
moving only eye peeks for the sight of spring.

Reprinted with permission of Gary Beck

This poem is from Gary Beck's collection "Expectations". Gary's poetry has appeared in dozens of literary magazines. His chapbook 'The Conquest of Somalia' will be published by Cervena Barva Press. His recent fiction has been published in numerous literary magazines. His plays and translations of Moliere, Aristophanes, and Sophocles have been produced Off-Broadway.

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