Lingering Morning

When I walked out to the car this morning,
waves of dark gray clouds had rolled in,
darkening the start of this September day
such that our solar sidewalk lantern
remained lit, all the neighbors’ cars
slept soundly in driveways like oversized insects,
and an owl, which we never seem to hear,
practiced vowels somewhere nearby.
I knew that soon the sun would come
and melt it all away, pools of shadows shifting
at the toes of the trees. So I asked it to stay
just a little longer, and the morning replied
“maybe” in raindrop braille on the windshield.

DEVON NEAL

Devon Neal (he/him) is a Kentucky-based poet whose work has appeared in many publications, including HAD, Stanchion, Stone Circle Review, Livina Press, and The Storms, and has been nominated for Best of the Net. He currently lives in Bardstown, Kentucky with his wife and three children.