Unseasonable Follies

 

Unseasonable Follies

 

 

Don’t be lured

by this morning’s sunlight

or the sweet songs of birds

the worst moment of winter

can come in early April

when climbing to the top

of the lookout peak

at Montreat

your legs go rubbery

refuse to go up and up

where you thought were heights

only to discover stasis

your stomach tells you

you haven’t eaten

enough to sustain

the climb

and your companion refuses

to wait for you

 

Don’t be lulled

by sweet sea breezes

or the crystalline breaking

of sunrise over ocean

the worst moment of summer

can come at the end

of October when hurricanes churn

currents dredge and dump

torrents spawn tornadoes

across Ocracoke

though you thought you were done

with indifference    dismissals

animosity    rancor    those fists

thought you had laid

the season’s tumult

safely to rest

 

 

 Cordelia M. Hanemann              

  

Cordelia Hanemann is currently a practicing writer and artist in Raleigh, NC. A retired professor of English at Campbell University, she has published in numerous journals including Atlanta Review, Connecticut River Review, Southwestern Review, and Laurel Review; anthologies, The Poet Magazine's new anthology, Friends and Friendship, Heron Clan and Kakalak and in her own chapbook, Through a Glass Darkly. Her poem, "photo-op" was a finalist in the Poems of Resistance competition at Sable Press and her poem "Cezanne's Apples" was nominated for a Pushcart. Recently the featured poet for Negative Capability Press and The Alexandria Quarterly, she is now working on a first novel, about her roots in Cajun Louisiana.