Winter Adagio

Nightwalk in a small town.

Moonbleached adobe

set against

the snowglobular shakedown

of flakes,

as if dandruff

from the itchy shaved scalp

of God

was falling,

a phosphate rhapsody.

Along the road,

mudskinned snowdrifts,

like albino coal-miners, crouching,

or dispossessed humps

banking the puddles

of bootsuck slush.

Not even nine,

the streets empty, and the silence,

tracked to easy on the eyes

lamplight amber,

buries itself

in deep pockets

and folds.

Suddenly, a feeling takes hold,

and I am convinced that I am

the last living creature on earth,

a soloist

treading

a stark open womb,

Winter’s milk-pink voice,

an elliptical hush,

birthing softly an ode

to its sometimes love,

so soon departed.

About John Biscello

Originally from Brooklyn, NY, writer, poet, performer, and playwright, John Biscello, has lived in the high-desert grunge-wonderland of Taos, New Mexico since 2001. He is the author of four novels, Broken Land, a Brooklyn Tale, Raking the Dust, Nocturne Variations, and No Man’s Brooklyn; a collection of stories, Freeze Tag, two poetry collections, Arclight and Moonglow on Mercy Street; and a fable, The Jackdaw and the Doll, illustrated by Izumi Yokoyama. He also adapted classic fables, which were paired with the vintage illustrations of artist, Paul Bransom, for the collection: Once Upon a Time, Classic Fables Reimagined. His produced, full-length plays include: LOBSTERS ON ICE, ADAGIO FOR STRAYS, THE BEST MEDICINE, ZEITGEIST, U.S.A., and WEREWOLVES DON’T WALTZ.

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