winter cheer

 

 

punxsutawney phil

said there’ll be more winter chill—

 

but around here

there’s winter cheer and (root)beer,

 

tell that mole—

‘cause hawks are going to the super bowl

 

 

© 2026 jennifer wagner

 

poetic bloomings #580: relative cold

 

photo © ian wagner

Gettin' Fresh, Like Grandma Used to Say

 

 

When I woke up this morning,

those fresh-baked Ghirardelli brownies

began whispering things to me.

 

Things only my husband should say

to me in the dark—

or like

when I woke up this morning.

 

They turned poetic, Neruda-esque,

“I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees,”

intoned

those fresh-baked Ghirardelli brownies

 

from their sugary-rich depths,

so silky-smooth, while I innocently sipped coffee. 

So velvety they were indeed, so fresh, when they

began whispering things to me.

                                                                                                 

© 2026 Jennifer Wagner

 

A Cascade Poem for dVerse MTB

The challenge didn’t specifically state that all stanzas must have an equal number of lines (tercets, etc.) so I took a bit of creative cascade license. 

“I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.”  “Quiero hacer contigo lo que la primavera hace con los cerezos.”  – Pablo Neruda, from “Every Day You Play.”

 

image generated by me using substack image generator 

 

embalmed

always, love—

like piperita,

you

 

are the dream

i keep

pressed between

 

my teeth and tongue—

the balm

i breathe

 

 

© 2026 jennifer wagner

 

dVerse poetics

 

photo © jennifer wagner, a mural at the roro, phoenix, az

 

(an early valentine)