Tree Out the Window by Christopher Woods

A Salsa in Spring

A dark road bends
and weaves inside
an avenue canopied.
Dead branches hang
parodies of green.
Leaves and bark
squelch underfoot
above a mat of slick wet tar.

Snowflakes lattice
the red brick streets
lie long as stretched ribbons
on apple-pie crusts.
The road smokes
an elusive cigar.
Oily rainbows
And technicolour
jellyfish glow on rushing
car screens.

Vehicles glide and slide
ballerinas on black ice.
Feet fall muffled in
pioneers’ treads
they sink black wells
marking territory.

A cyclist
head bent low
puffs steam as he rides past
knees pumping
heart thudding
an old creaking steam train
on frozen rusted tracks

The woods lie quiet
sleeping hedgehogs in mouldy burrows
shivering ravens in empty nests
sheep huddling under wet hay
through it all resonates
a silent chatter
of ghostly magpies.

The branches stand raw
in the blistering chill
dormant trees,
beggars in supplication
lift up arms
in cavil.

Slumbering seeds
whisper
as they shiver
in thin fleece
cup your ear,
listen up close,
hear their cries
let the vigil begin.

A murmur
as the breeze hushes
all sounds,
a droplet makes its way down,
a drip in the crack
of the snow lattice.
Thaw begins.

About the author:

Anushree Prashant has been published in the Fib Review, Coffin Bell Journal, Avenue Magazine and Muse-Pie Press with further work forthcoming in the Tule Review and elsewhere. She holds an MLitt in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow and is currently co-editing issue 7 of the Adjacent Pineapple Magazine. She lives in Dubai.

In the artist’s words:

Christopher Woods lives in Chappell Hill, Texas. He has published a novel, The Dream Patch, a prose collection, Under A Riverbed Sky, and a book of stage monologues for actors, Heart Speak. His work has appeared in many journals including The Southern Review, New Orleans Review, and Glimmer Train. His book of photography prompts for writers, From Vision To Text, is forthcoming from Propertius Press. His novella, Hearts In The Dark, is forthcoming from Running Wild Press.

Gallery – http://christopherwoods.zenfolio.com/