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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal> WAITING<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Fragments of poems lie<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Sleeping inside me,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Not ready to face the light of day.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Too many losses and hardships,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>One after another, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Froze them in mid-verse.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>A winter of bone-chilling cold,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Illness and family deaths,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>My husband’s deepening depression –<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>These are poetry’s fodder,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>But just not now.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Words that could turn life’s dross<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Into expressive shimmering gold<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Elude me in this dry season.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Sipping my morning coffee while<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Stroking my dog’s soft ears,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I find hope in the songs <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Of chirping birds outside my window<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>And believe that words, like Spring,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Will, despite a barren Winter, come once more. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Sally Rosenthal<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>