John Muro: “The Drowsing”
THE DROWSING
Mere moments from dusk
and I can see how a near-
sighted sun’s deftly passing
threads of straw-gold light
through the upper branches
of elms, as if the trunks’
staggered set of burls were
thimbles and the crowns
of the taller trees were
crumpled patches of fabric
that had to be gathered and
mended and then later dyed
with pigments of rose, courtly
bronze and indigo and, further
out, gaunt, leafless snags stand
forlorn besides the luminous
clay and brackish water of a
flood-lit marsh, appearing
like slight pieces of tinder
prepared to give themselves
up in brittle combustion, torches
flickering in calm air before
their trails of smoke are swept
skywards in cursive spirals
as daylight falls away.
John Muro has authored two volumes of poems—In the Lilac Hour and Pastoral Suite—in 2020 and 2022, respectively, and both books were published by Antrim House. Muro’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous literary journals, including Acumen, Barnstorm, Delmarva, Sky Island, and Valparaiso Poetry Review.