It is the eye
of winter, this slit
that lets in light.
Stones crack and breastplates
fall when fire speaks.
A shuddering nor’easter pastes
snow on every ledge, and steam’s
recurring breath uncoils
from the sea. What is it
to say that light has entered earth? The dead
of winter rise with open mouths, mock
soft limbs of early spring. But listen,
here’s what’s true. He touched,
I opened.
E. Alex Pierce lives in East Sable River, Nova Scotia, where she is developing a centre for writers and artists. For ten years she taught creative writing at Cape Breton University, and is currently series editor for the CBU Press publication The Essential Cape Breton Library. She holds a master of fine arts in creative writing from Warren Wilson College and has participated in the Writing Studio at the Banff Centre. Her first collection of poems, Vox Humana, will be published by Brick Books in the fall of 2011.
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