Enjoying a Walk Around a Frozen Lake
……….Came a sound:
a sparrow-Mozart
…..…..…..…..…..playing a tiny rusted piano!
…..…..In the gathering light,
I stopped. Straining to hear,
…..…..…..…..…..I could almost feel
…..…..ice expanding into the path
of least resistance, starting in the mind,
…..…..…..…..…..down the throat
…..…..to the heart. The sound
scattered—the wind on the lake
…..…..…..…..…..scattered every trace of it
…..…..with the many other
acts of grace and violence
…..…..…..…..…..in the air that morning.
Author’s Bio
John Wall Barger’s fifth book of poems, Resurrection Fail, comes out with Spuyten Duyvil Press in fall 2021. He is a contract editor for Frontenac House, and teaches in the BFA Program for Creative Writing at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
