Poems by RC deWinter

Théros

Summer now –
the invisible
shift into
another
quadrant of cosmic order,
eclipses blueskied
the harshness
of an abducted
spring hung on
the gallows
of the greedy Boreas,
never satisfied,
reluctant
to surrender his
hold on the
natural
workings of the universe
to the soft hands of
a woman –
the gentle Kore,
whose blossoms
died on the
tips of frostbitten fingers
jealously frozen.
All that done,
with summer’s green birth
the horae
rejoice in
the restoration of earth’s
continuity
as they dance
in the spillage of
golden sun
on this first
day of glorious summer,
delivered timely.

the dance

none of us asked to be here
but here we are
sharing a small blue orb
spinning in the vastness of the unknown

in the firelight of misunderstanding
we do our frenzied dances
honoring that which we have made
in our own images

dishonoring our kinship
while standing on the mirage of moral high ground
that crumbles with every heavy footfall
of those burdened with the armor of ideology

however we came to be
in all our glorious imperfection
we are all brothers and sisters under the skin
there is no imperative for blood

if we must dance
let it be while holding hands
to the music of a piper
playing in the key of humanity
A Love Like This

A love like this there never was before,
the promise of the universe fulfilled,
two hearts, once locked, are each an open door.

And having waited, knowing there was more,
we’ll reap a beauty that cannot be willed.
A love like this there never was before.

What seemed a desolate, deserted shore
is now a place a new life we can build.
Two hearts, once locked, are each an open door.

And having each the other to explore,
we’ll taste a sweetness dreamed but now distilled.
A love like this there never was before.

The dark alone is banished, nevermore
to resurrect, the gift of lovelight spilled.
Two hearts, once locked, are each an open door.

Together, hand in hand forever more,
our lives with true devotion now are filled.
A love like this there never was before,
two hearts, once locked, are each an open door.

RC deWinter’s poetry is widely anthologized, notably in New York City Haiku (New York Times, February 2017), Cowboys & Cocktails (Brick Street, April 2019), Nature In The Now (Tiny Seed Press, August 2019), Coffin Bell Two (March 2020), in print in 2River, Adelaide, Event, Genre Urban Arts, Gravitas, Kansas City Voices, Meat For Tea: The Valley Review, the minnesota review, Night Picnic Journal, Prairie Schooner, Southword, among others and appears in numerous online literary journals.