Ann Howells

In the Christmas Mountains*

Fog enfolds our snug tent,
makes an opal of mountain air.
Our little terrier romps in cloud. 

A small campfire chases damp,
carries scent of mesquite.
We abandon ourselves to magic. 

 

*The Christmas Mountains are located near Big Bend
in southwest Texas

 

 

 

In Spite of It All
            ~ love song for our 57^th year 

You’re static on my radio
a pebble in my shoe
fly in my ointment
phone line blocking my view 

smudge on my glasses
soot on my snow
ants at my picnic
a tap that runs slow. 

You’re a hole in my canoe
soot in my flue
bump in my night
misinterpreted clue 

run in my stocking
gap in my bite
clog in my pipe
air pocket in flight. 

You’re a lump in my gravy
squeak in my spring
rip in my kite
knot in the string 

mote in my eye
snarl in my curl
grit in my oyster
that delivers a pearl. 

 

Ann Howells edited Illya’s Honey for eighteen years, print and online. Her most recent books: So Long As We Speak Their Names (Kelsay Books, 2019) and Painting the Pinwheel Sky (Assure Press, 2020). Her chapbook Black Crow in Flight was Editor’s Choice in Main Street Rag’s 2007 Chapbook Competition, and Softly Beating Wings won the William D. Barney Competition (Blackbead Books, 2017). Her poems appear in many small press and university journals.