Golden Apples in the Snow
by Linea Jantz
the herons return home to dead trees
clouds boiling flocks of blackbirds
screeching at the forgotten orchard drooping
rotting apples a Midas feast
in sudden snow a hundred geese
take to the skies, electrify the clouds
with their frantic gossip but all I hear
is the hum of road slush under tired tires
it’s getting dark
colder
sky in a macabre dance with naked branches
street lamps leer from the highway
a steady stream of white lights, red to the right
sheet ice hushed in the snow
two curved bone lines
lead into the night
Linea Jantz has worked in roles including waste management, social services, teacher, and paralegal. Among other adventures, she taught Business English in Ukraine (pre-invasion) and helped film a short documentary about women entrepreneurs in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. Her writing features in publications including Palette Poetry, Josephine Quarterly, Beaver Magazine, and EcoTheo Review.
You can read the entire This Makes up the Sky series by visiting: https://womenwhosubmitlit.org/category/the-sky/
“street lamps leer from the highway” Luvin this!