written by Holly Day

Plastic and paper drinking cups line my windowsills
filled with tiny seeds, labels of flowers carefully taped to their sides.
If I close my eyes really hard I can imagine what these cups will look like
when the tiny seeds sprout and grow, releasing the beautiful little plants from within.

Outside is a wildness of white snow in thigh-high drifts, patches of ice
thick enough to walk on. There are more flowers out there, waiting
for the sunlight and the warm air to set them free. If I close my eyes
and pretend, I can almost believe I am anywhere else but here.

Holly Day’s poetry has recently appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Grain, and The Tampa Review. Her newest poetry collections are In This Place, She Is Her Own (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press), A Wall to Protect Your Eyes (Pski’s Porch Publishing), Folios of Dried Flowers and Pressed Birds (Cyberwit.net), Where We Went Wrong (Clare Songbirds Publishing), Into the Cracks (Golden Antelope Press), and Cross Referencing a Book of Summer (Silver Bow Publishing), while her newest nonfiction books are Music Theory for Dummies and Tattoo FAQ.