Today's poem is by Rick Bursky

The Winter Man
       

Late at night, a stranger bangs on my door.
I tell him to go away. I tell him
I called the police. I tell him
I have a gun. He tells me
he's not afraid. I tell him
I'm not afraid either. He tells me
paramedics will use a cloud as a stretcher
to carry his body to heaven.
I don't believe him. I tell him
the wind broke my heart.
I'm holding it together with an old sock.
I want to return to my crossword puzzle.
I want to see if rapture is the seven-letter word for ecstasy.
I peer through the curtains and see
him, snow pecking at his eyes like a vulture.

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Copyright © 2024 Rick Bursky All rights reserved
from The Southeast Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission