April’s leonine winds
chatter porch chimes and pitch
cherry blossoms sideways.
The air, unsure of itself,
warms and cools, warms and cools,
thick with the fug of green sex.
The timid birds of winter
have found their tongues again,
louder than in memory.
Life reasserts itself,
even amidst the ash
we continue to sow.
—
Kevin Grauke has published work in such places as The Threepenny Review, The Southern Review, Quarterly West, Ninth Letter, and Cimarron Review. He’s the author of the short story collection Shadows of Men (Queen’s Ferry Press). Bullies & Cowards is forthcoming from Cornerstone Press in 2026. He teaches at La Salle University and lives in Philadelphia.
