sunday with harry potter by RC deWinter

the winter wind from the west
blows ghosts in from the prairie 
through the cracks 
in these poorly hung windows

i catch a whiff of axle grease and anger
and remember the redheaded stranger
ruthless vulgar loud unfaithful
i married in a fit of self-destruction

and am ashamed of myself all over again
he’s the last thing i want to think about 
on an icy day that demands the warmth
of bourbon and gentle reminiscence

i pour the amber sipping it slowly
trying not to remember the him or the
ghost of true love as reminiscence 
sprouts wings and flies south for the winter 

sighing i pick a book from the pile
next to the rocker and settle in to lose
the wind the ghosts and myself
in the comfort of make-believe


RC deWinter’s poetry is widely anthologized, notably in New York City Haiku (NY Times, 2/2017), easing the edges: a collection of everyday miracles, (Patrick Heath Public Library of Boerne, 11/2021) The Connecticut Shakespeare Festival Anthology (River Bend Bookshop Press, 12/2021), in print: 2River, Event, Gargoyle Magazine, the minnesota review, Night Picnic Journal, Plainsongs, Prairie Schooner, Southword, The Ogham Stone, Twelve Mile Review, York Literary Review among many others and appears in numerous online literary journals.