Shadow Talk

RC deWinter

 

Whenever I step onto the stage
of the world there you are –
My constant companion.

My familiar –
a invisible ventriloquist
reading over my shoulder,
Silently mouthing the words.

No matter where. No matter when.

Murmuring wisdom in the wind.
Sorrowing in the tears of heaven.
Singing love songs in the splash
of wave on rock.
Shouting warnings when danger lurks.

Though I can’t hold you to me,
you hold me to you.
Keeping me company.
Keeping me wise.
Keeping me safe.

 

 

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RC deWinter’s poetry is widely anthologized, notably in New York City Haiku (NY Times, 2/2017), easing the edges: a collection of everyday miracles, (Patrick Heath Public Library of Boerne, 11/2021) The Connecticut Shakespeare Festival Anthology (River Bend Bookshop Press, 12/2021), in print: 2River, Event, Coffin Bell, Gargoyle Magazine, Genre Urban Arts, the minnesota review, Night Picnic Journal, Plainsongs, Poetry South, Prairie Schooner, Southword, The Ogham Stone, Twelve Mile Review, Variant Literature, York Literary Review among many others and appears in numerous online literary journals.