December
Lodged tight for days
in a corner of the wall,
ladybug can’t resist the tree,
crawling now over cold
light, ceramic fruits,
tinsel lamb and sleigh.
Flies out of the tree
to try rum cake on a
plate of caroling cherubs.
Ends up on her back,
wings flared, silly girl
spinning over the kitchen floor.
Later, between the blinds,
tiny bump of silhouette:
a stillness against the falling snow.
in a corner of the wall,
ladybug can’t resist the tree,
crawling now over cold
light, ceramic fruits,
tinsel lamb and sleigh.
Flies out of the tree
to try rum cake on a
plate of caroling cherubs.
Ends up on her back,
wings flared, silly girl
spinning over the kitchen floor.
Later, between the blinds,
tiny bump of silhouette:
a stillness against the falling snow.
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Disclaimer
We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2013 by Roger Pfingston and reprinted from Poetry East, Nos. 80 & 81, Fall 2013. Roger Pfingston’s most recent book of poems is A Day Marked for Telling, Finishing Line Pr., 2011. Poem reprinted by permission of Roger Pfingston and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2024 by The Poetry Foundation.