Poetry of Amy Nawrocki

January Thaw

Gulls crackle and perch
at the ferry landing, wait
as our vehicle
careens into place. Before
our journey commences

their spotted wings curl
into gnarled bodies. Flight
into the bay, our
journeys collide, our speckles
reach the apex of the shore.

Occupation of Autumn

Afternoon on the last day of September
begins with sun shifting across
the tiara of sky. The equinox has passed
and autumn carefully plots
her revenge against the vacancy of summer.
Bulbs await planting, else
the vernal daffodils won’t appear,
and soon the cascade of burnt orange leaves
will need raking. But for now
the lists of unaccomplished tasks
grow like unweeded sprouts
left to frolic in the dormant flower boxes.

Yet we are not entirely idle
and do our own plotting, opening
the screen door, filling the feeder.
Anticipating migration, it dangles
under the porch overhang, filled
with kernels for sparrows and squirrels.
When they exit for afternoon naps,
the feeder flutters in the soft breeze:
a mirror ball, a festival of white patches
kaleidoscoping in a living room lightshow.
The day continues shifting; soon
the dance of light will vanish
as surely as the frost will come,
purposeful in its vocation.

Hatch the Next Star

Hatch the next star
I say to the sky, sipping
on the pearly edge
of wonderment. Teach me
the ancient zigzag to map
my own cosmos and
pilot my way to silver
sovereignty.

Copyright 2007, Amy Nawrocki. © This work is protected under the U.S. copyright laws. It may not be reproduced, reprinted, reused, or altered without the expressed written permission of the author.

Amy Nawrocki is a poet and teacher living in Hamden, CT. She teaches Writing and English at the University of Bridgeport. Her poems have recently appeared in Amaze Cinquain Journal, Modern English Tanka, Lily, White Leaf Press, and the Loch Raven Review. She recently had several of her poems translated into Russian, and was a semi-finalist for the 2006 Paumanok Poetry Award Visiting Writers Program.