When Words Fail Poet Glinda Johnson-Medland Longs for Light

National Poetry Month was launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996. For the rest of April, each day we will publish a poem: your favorite poem--one of your own or one by a published author.

Send your poem to janeEstahl@comcast.net with a sentence or two about yourself as the author or why the poem is among your favorites. And stay tuned for announcements of local poetry readings in the area that you may wish to attend to celebrate the integral role poets play in our culture.

Walking in Snow on a Moonless Night
~ by Glinda Johnson-Medland

Walking in snow on a moonless night.

When the words fail,

There is only the distance between one snowflake and the next.

The last word spoken.

The cold silence that follows

The one third inch of white on the printed page

Between one letter and another.

It might as well be the space between the ocean and the sky,

The trees and the sun

“I cannot reach you.”

On the ancient maps…“Beyond here..

Dragons lie”

An eternity can pass between the fine delicate crystals and the drifts that form on the sloped and peaked drifts that form from the wind driven snow.

Words so often fail us.

Yesterday we ate marinated lamb and rosemary rice,

Regaled stories about our trip to Greece and it’s fabulous sun.

But here tonight there is this chasm of emptiness

Between us.

Our eyes danced and we found our language flying between us like two Salsa dancers.

We walk side by side in the frigid night air in silence.

I can only see the darkness between our frosted breaths.

So many words to say, but not tonight.

Boots squeaking in the snow beneath our feet.

Icicles forming in our nostrils,

Your shadow under the streetlight.

I try to breathe in what is left of your oxygen,

Breathe out the tension I feel.

We are like two stars burning

Galaxies apart,

But needing the other's distant light.

*Glinda Johnson-Medland, Executive Director of "word hive"--a space for poets that she and her husband manage. Glinda has written and published a fair amount of poetry. Glinda lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, enjoys walks and biking in nature, Gellying and time with her pup Shimoo.

"word hive" is committed to the education, development, and collaboration of local poets; to awaken artistic expression in local communities.

More News from Boyertown

• Local Rescue Seeks Loving Furrever Homes for Cats A Boyertown alum's local cat rescue strives to find loving homes for cats.
• Local Poet Reflections Features Phil Repko, Robert Fillman, Brandon Krieg In celebration of National Poetry Month, Phil Repko, popular educator and poet, joins Robert Fillman and Brandon Krieg in an evening of poetry at Firefly Bookstore.