Snowball Viburnum, image by Pat, on Pixabay
Aubade with Snow
(for Peter Mangiola and Kathie Collins)
morning after storm, downy crystals quietly pack all
the world under thirty inches of peaceful polar quilt
unlike the night before when winter bullied its way
with a blizzard’s howl, whistle, crunch into spring
outside our glass screen door, high winds blew heavy
flurries lowering visibility—my aunt, delighted
by the need to stay, wrapped me in a blanket against
the cold that led some to hypothermia, those caught
too long in snow so deep the city had to dump it off
bridges, I watched without moment of sudden insight
revelation even after someone turned off the tv news
leaving the room still a hoary glow until I closed
the exterior door, heading for bed, for an echt
transformation in my life at dawn
when a flower taught
that a thing sparking joy, but once
did not, impacts change deeper than any epiphany
a gentle stir and I woke to my aunt’s pleasant plea
want to see resilience? strength? what it means to stay
your faith and be unmoved? come, come see, she kindly
hurried me into warm robe, slippers and downstairs
to view from a back window the Snowball Viburnum
the “wandering tree“ north center of our yard, its snow-
laden branches holding out to me their milky globes
hydrangea-like and huge—to survive a storm whole
like your tree, persevere, my aunt said, don't lose heart
she cupped my hands placing there a pompon of lace-
white florets, her hands felt warm as they steadied mine
remember, long as it’s spring, birds will need your fruit
Olga Dugan is a Fellow of the Cave Canem Foundation. Nominated for Best of the Net
and Pushcart prizes, her award-winning poems appear in journals and anthologies including Ekstasis, Relief: A Journal of Art and Faith, The Write Launch, Ariel Chart,
The Sunlight Press, ONE ART, Agape Review, The Windhover, evolution: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku, and the Munster Literature Centre's Poems from Pandemia—An Anthology. Holding a Ph.D.
in Literary History and Culture from the University of Rochester, Olga has written articles on poetry and cultural memory that appear in The Journal of African American History, The North Star, and Emory University's “Following the Fellows.” At Community College of Philadelphia, Olga is a Lindback Professor of English (Emeritus). She writes,
“I am fascinated by what makes a believer’s voice distinct in a polyphonic world. So, I write poems that explore characteristics, moments of change or definition, narratives which help to shape a unique, authentic, and Christ-centered self.”
November 2024 issue
Such a beautiful poem!