Counting

by Gail Langstroth

sirens on Route 30
counting, I thought the rush of strong sun this morning
_______would stay, like yesterday—the sky pure
clouds crisp—

& the whirl
________________________vortexing

_______counting—

I saw my first butterflies of season: 2

today
_____________More people have died in America than during the 9/11 attacks.

March winds vex pine boughs
forsythia says we love you, air;
we love you
my shadow claws cement’s

cache
each body-urgent, scab/scar
no longer hidden

_______we have to feel this
_______the blacker ink’s shadow

a young sycamore molds
its crown with distant clouds
I stop on a sidewalk crack
notice the playground:
silent red-bucket swings,
blue & yellow ladders/tubes
plastic labyrinthine constructions

_______for children to climb
_

_______each day more quiet than the last

Gail Langstroth is a tri-lingual lecturer, international eurythmy performer, poet and film artist. After receiving her M.F.A. in poetry, Drew University, she won The Patricia Dobler Poetry Prize. Recently Langstroth was named a finalist in the Tupelo Press Poetry in the Pandemic Contest. Her duo-language manuscript firegarden / jardín-de-fuego, was released by Get Fresh Books (April 2020). Accompanying the book are staged performances which showcase twelve poems from the book. Langstroth makes Pittsburgh, PA her home where she is a mentor for Carlow University’s Madwomen in the Attic Writing Workshops, and movement consultant for The Lemington Gospel Chorale. www.wordmoves.com

City of Asylum believes that All Pittsburghers are Poets. With the Poem of the Week series, we seek to increase the readership and appreciation of poetry locally by publishing poems written by residents of Allegheny County of all ages and levels of experience. In partnership with the Poetry Editors at Sampsonia Way Magazine, City of Asylum advances our mission to defend, celebrate, and build on creative freedom of expression. This project received a RADical ImPAct Grant from the Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD).