Joshua Conklin

Things my Nine Month Old has in Common with April

On sweet mornings
she wakes wearily,
stretches to the sun,
chirps gleefully,
and finds her voice,
after a long sleepy season.

Eyes, clear blue,
widen on the world
taking in the newness
of now.

On other mornings
winter cuts
a new tooth
jagged and bitter
and howls,
shaking branches,
chubby with buds.

But the sun persists,
smiles and gums the ground,
reminding us of the growth
and change
to come.

Author Bio

Joshua Conklin earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College in 2005 and since then his poetry has been featured at Inkwell, Foliate Oak, Ocean, A Generation Defining Itself: In Our Own Words, and The Anthology of New England Writers 2008. He is an assistant editor at both JMWW and Slurve, two online literary magazines. A teacher by trade, he is currently a stay-at-home dad.