On the Winter Solstice

Winter Winter cold and crass
Winter Winter old the grass
Fast we go across the field
Massed the snow and frost to wield

Night of rest abed when tired
Light and fest and sled and fire

Caryatids

At lunch I sat and humbly viewed,caryatid-photo-by-gaul
A carven image, unsubdued,
A lofty sight, which merited,
Attention toward, a caryatid.

Molded column, staring straight,
Women holding cares of weight,
Slightly gray, beyond complaint,
Night and day, not fond or faint.

 

Photo by Jason Gaul

 

West of France

Western French, sequester far west-of-france
Resting Sun and blessed star
Gently glowing by the pine
Spent but beau with mensch and wine

God of gloaming, Christ of light
Geist of home and trodden flight

Beau: fair (French)
Mensch: honorable person (Yiddish)
Geist: spirit (German)

Photo by Ryan Gibson

 

The Seamless Manfootball-player

The seamless fellow’s time would come,
The decent man of mild aplomb,
Not of grandeur, not too loud,
The finer brand, the man unbowed

 

 

 

 

Emily DiDonato

Ice of green to gaze upon
Emerald, jade, and grassy lawn
Platinum swath of Emily
Paints a path upon the sea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neal Dachstadter is a poet living in Tennessee.  His work has been printed in Decanto Poetry Magazine (UK), Western Viewpoints and Poetic Images: the Great American West (Woodinville, Washington), Society of Classical Poets Journal 2015 (Mt Hope, New York), Rocky Point Times (Puerto Peñasco, Mexico) and The Lyric (Jericho, Vermont).  A member of the Demosthenian Literary Society at the University of Georgia, he deployed to Hawija, then wrote on Lookout Mountain, continuing with Delta Kappa Epsilon International.  Berkeley, Ann Arbor, and Athens encouraged him as a writer.  In 2015 he wrote in Arizona at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument five miles north of Mexico.


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5 Responses

  1. Ruth

    Wonderfully rich entwined sounds and concepts in these poems; miniature but glowing like the lights and ornaments of the festive time itself.

    Reply
  2. Wendy Bourke

    Wonderful, lilting words in mesmerizing rhyme. A pleasure to read … especially aloud.

    Reply
  3. Peyton

    The most precious gift is one shared with others, and that is exactly what you have given to the reader. Now, it is our turn to share this gift so others are able to feel the comfort they bring to the soul.

    Reply

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