"The Ice on the River" by Brookes Moody

I’m always just

            saying new things about waves—

like how when ice forms on a river,

despite the currents,

            the saline levels rise like blood pressure,

how the wind breaks it up in the end,

eventually.

I’m reminding you of words like fetch,

saying nothing about the crests and the valleys

or any distances,

            measurable or otherwise.

The ducks,

indifferent to their hollow bones,

            to the cold—

standing in the melt pond on the dark smooth surface,

their indifference contagious—

or maybe it’s the time the sun sets,

or you being in Boston,

or winter,

the salt creeping up the hems of all my pants.

Remember when you were young

and you first learned how the snow

on the branches

keeps the trees warm—

their needles, little nets?

Featured Art: “Jaffery Point” by Sean Ware

Brookes Moody received her MFA in creative writing from The New School in 2012 and is a founding editor of the online literary journal The Mackinac. She is a PhD student in English and Creative Writing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she teaches Introduction to College Writing and Creative Writing, acts as the Development Manager of cream city review, and coordinates the Eat Local::Read Local poetry series. Her work has previously been published in The Northern New England Review. You can find Brookes at brookesmoody.com or @brookesmoody on Instagram and Twitter.

Sean Ware is a visiting instructor of art at Berea College, living in Berea, KY. Previously, Sean has taught classes and workshops for the New Hampshire Art Association and Lakes Region Community College in Laconia, NH. His work is a balance of often dissimilar methods: alla prima plein air painting, large studio painting, and printmaking, each prompting and informing the others. Sean’s paintings have been exhibited in galleries across Kentucky, Maine, and New Hampshire. You can find his work at seanwarepainting.com.