David M. Alper

Of a midwinter sky, the smoke of a sauna,
the radiance of a midwinter night. Also here
we read of interconnection, we see both
being drawn together in the same breath:

A few misfortunes, I fear, that more than
offset the good I have done. The number of
misfortunes seems certain, as the adjectives
have their number and differ only by their

exponents, we will hear of them all.
In addition to these are the misfortunes that
are good, you can be sure that the willow
will endure this good, in order to indicate

this. I say that you can be sure of it, because
I believe that the willow has been watching
you, because the good occurs for all who
find delight in it.

David M. Alper's forthcoming poetry collection is Hush. His work appears in Variant Literature, Open: Journal of Arts & Letters, Oxford Magazine, and elsewhere. He is an educator in New York City.