Cabin Fever***

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Edward Baranosky

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1
In a snowstorm the last certainties
Disappear, clinging to the pale moonrise,

The edges of fir, spruce, and birch
Blending with the lost horizon–

The mackerel sky closes in,
Where imagination is your only confidante

And dreams have found your epitaph,
The petrified light in winter silence.

2
You found your childhood drawings
Of seabirds cresting the swell of the waves.

A distant railway answers the foghorns,
And the offshore growl of thundering surf–

The house you once lived in, painted by a child,
We rescue as we recognize

Disregarding the rest. At lowest tide
We can still walk as far out as we remember.

3
Any time-capsule assumes a future
Gleaning with fragments of heirlooms,

Disclosing what may survive,
And what is lost—It demands detail

And incredible gall, and the best part of you
With no guarantee, as practice is important.

There are reasons that Love thrives on distraction—
Don’t flinch until you feel the pain.

4
Deep in a winter night, you awaken to hear
The blizzard blowing snow beneath the door,

The locks rattling as if something wants to enter,
Or to leave, or remain—the dogs no longer hark

At the metal sound of your grandfather shoveling coal
Into the dimming embers of an ancient furnace.

But your Presence rises embers for other reasons.
Nothing matters but Hi, I’m home, even if no one answers.

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Edward Baranosky has painted seascapes since he was seven years old. His focus on marine-scapes, draws him back to visit his native home in the American east coast, for inspiration from the North Atlantic. His work emphasizes the present – in the ever-changing moments of water. As a poet-artist he crosses the channels and pathways between the visual and the textual. He continues to exhibit in the United States and Canada. Baranosky owns a small press, EAB Publishing, for poetry chapbooks and related material. He currently lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Website: https://painterpoet.weebly.com Education: BFA 1969, Rhode Island School of Design, Major in Painting.

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