Winter Noise
by Lylanne Musselman
Listen to the echoes
in the heart of winter: snow
shovels scrape concrete,
tires roll over brittle ice,
arthritic tree branches
pop and crack as they move
in the whistling breeze.
Canada geese
trumpet their flight across
the crisp bright sky, and
like parachutists
smaller feathered friends
drop in at full feeders, chirp
delight while seeds shuffle
onto frozen ground.
One unexpected day,
after months of muffled noise
suffered under too much snowfall,
you will hear the constant dripping
of shiny icicles —
winter’s suicidal melt,
drumming in spring sounds.
Bio: Lylanne Musselman is a native Hoosier with many family, friendship, and poetry ties that keep her returning often. An award-winning artist and poet, she has been published in many literary journals and anthologies. She’s authored three chapbooks, and co-authored Company of Women: New and Selected Poems (Chatter House Press, 2013) with Jayne Marek and Mary Sexson. Although, in 2011, she moved to Toledo, Ohio, she continues teaching online writing classes for Ivy Tech Community College, Indianapolis.
by Lylanne Musselman
Listen to the echoes
in the heart of winter: snow
shovels scrape concrete,
tires roll over brittle ice,
arthritic tree branches
pop and crack as they move
in the whistling breeze.
Canada geese
trumpet their flight across
the crisp bright sky, and
like parachutists
smaller feathered friends
drop in at full feeders, chirp
delight while seeds shuffle
onto frozen ground.
One unexpected day,
after months of muffled noise
suffered under too much snowfall,
you will hear the constant dripping
of shiny icicles —
winter’s suicidal melt,
drumming in spring sounds.
Bio: Lylanne Musselman is a native Hoosier with many family, friendship, and poetry ties that keep her returning often. An award-winning artist and poet, she has been published in many literary journals and anthologies. She’s authored three chapbooks, and co-authored Company of Women: New and Selected Poems (Chatter House Press, 2013) with Jayne Marek and Mary Sexson. Although, in 2011, she moved to Toledo, Ohio, she continues teaching online writing classes for Ivy Tech Community College, Indianapolis.