An empty house across the street,
snow-capped, mid-renovation;

daffodils waiting underground
with honey and fire;

strands of festive lights
held over like a beloved play.

Somewhere,

a buck standing by a stream,
his breath smoke and rhythm.

And the sound,
oh, and the sound

you can only hear
if you’re not listening.

Selected byRaymond Huffman
Image credit:David Selbert
Hugh Lemma

Hugh does not prefer to talk about himself in the third person, but if he did, he'd tell you he's in a self-imposed exile on the east coast of the USA, but still loves his former home in the Sonoran Desert. He is the author of Odd Numbers And Evensongs and Auditions For The Afterlife.