winter renewed

no birds but smoke

from a fire. the air is

cold sun melting snow

on asphalt. shopping

carts spun out in the

slush and exhaustion.

this is the anticipation

of spit. this day is a lost

city. this was always midnight

solstice. fire engines so tired

they slip by without lights

without sirens only the

tambourines louder

now over every pothole.

Joshua Anthony holds (precariously) an MFA from Eastern Washington University. Josh has appeared in a fingerful of magazines such as Crab Fat Magazine, Gone Lawn, and Slipstream, among others. Josh teaches at Gonzaga University.