aaduna kicks off National Poetry Month: Ellis, Nightengale, Agyekum, Das
TREASURE I treasure the few times my father, a man who rarely judged or intervened and chose his words carefully, tried to guide me: - “Did you write your grandmother?” - “Reputation doesn’t mean much.” - “Remember, this will be difficult for her.” - “Don’t speak like that about our country.” Often I wish he’d said more. I was a confused soul then - as now. A little more advice couldn’t have hurt! Well, it might have hurt. © 2017 Jim Ellis Auburn, NY Jim Ellis (photo provided) * * * Winter’s Valentine The February window opens my heart like a stent: a wandering swirl of frost flakes in shapes of capillaries cover the edges of larger arteries in shapes that call me to feel, remember, know the warmth of my own heartbeat. Through the window’s bluish veins