John Muro

Early Morning: March

Past porchlight, the barn sleeps still,
huddled beneath the snow-bound
trees, while a worm moon of oriental
gold glazes fence-posts and the frozen ground.
Galvanized buckets laced with frost,
each to each dimly burns,
perhaps in search of a season lost
or one that’s yet to come.
Now, though, is the hour of the halting heart
when time seems to slow and memories
and misgivings emerge and then depart
like breaths outside the body.
Yet, at this cold hour, only darkness stirs
and spreads like a burial shroud
across the earth; somewhere a bird’s
futile call, neither soft nor loud,
spills to ear while weary eyes
know how day will end: a fervent blue
blissfully rising and meager clouds dyed
like peace flags unfurling in pastel hue.

A resident of Connecticut and a lover of all things chocolate, John Muro has published two volumes of poems: In the Lilac Hour and Pastoral Suite, in 2020 and 2022, respectively. He is also a three-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize, a Best of the Net nominee and, more recently, he was a 2023 recipient of a Grantchester Award. John’s poems have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including Acumen, Barnstorm, Connecticut River, Sky Island, WIllawaw, and the Valparaiso Review. Instagram: @johntmuro.