Aquarium, February BY LIZ AHL When ice outside makes daggers of the grass, I come to where the tides of life still flow. The water here still moves behind the glass. In here, the seasons never seem to pass— the sullen shark and rays still come and go. Outside the ice makes daggers of the grass and coats the roads. The meditative bass won't puzzle how the blustery blizzards blow. The water here still moves. Behind the glass, rose-tinted corals house a teeming mass of busy neon creatures who don't know "outside." The ice makes daggers of the grass and oily puddles [...]

February & my love is in another state BY JOSÉ OLIVAREZ so when i walk down the street, i hold hands with the wind. there’s a chimney coughing up ahead & a sky so honey, i could almost taste it. a cat struts away from me & two yellow eyes become four: just like that, i’m the loneliest creature on this block. soon the streetlights will come alive & television sets will light up with blues. stay with me. while the sky is still golden, hold the ladder so i can climb, & from the highest rung, i can scrape away a [...]

The Snow Arrives After Long Silence BY NANCY WILLARD The snow arrives after long silence from its high home where nothing leaves tracks or strains or keeps time. The sky it fell from, pale as oatmeal, bears up like sheep before shearing. The cat at my window watches amazed. So many feathers and no bird! All day the snow sets its table with clean linen, putting its house in order. The hungry deer walk on the risen loaves of snow. You can follow the broken hearts their hooves punch in its crust. Night after night the big plows rumble and bale it [...]