Christmas Morning, by Todd Sukany

The Cemetery, by Carl Fredrik Hill (Sweden), 1877.

Christmas Morning
 
Mother, I’ve hung a wreath
of yellowed flowers
from your August bed.  
   Off to your right, yes,
just beyond your left ear,
more of those berries,
red like cardinals.  The kids
   are fine but left me alone
to my memories this morning.  
 
The spruce above stands
wet, snowy, and silent--
   her nest empty.

Todd Sukany
​
Todd Sukany <editor@upstarespress.com> is an instructor of English at Southwest Baptist University.  He has published poems in Ancient Paths, Cantos, Cave Region Review, Grist, Intégrité, and The Bleeding Typewriter.  Sukany received a Pushcart nomination.  A native of Michigan, he has lived in Missouri for thirty-plus years.  He holds degrees from Southwest Baptist University and Southeast Missouri State University.