The calendar turns its final pages
to skies of brittle leaves and falling suns.
Street lamps take their early vigil.

A shadow within the shadows
shoulders the wind, quickens.
It’s a dark ribbon of road home.

I think of promises yet unkept.
What we can’t imagine imagining.
How the air almost smells like snow.

But not just yet.
The thick scent stirring.
Someone cooking. A window open.

LINDA OPYR, Nassau County Poet Laureate 2011-13, has authored eight collections of poetry. Her poems have appeared in Poetry Ireland Review, The Hudson Review, The Atlanta Review, the Paterson Literary Review, and The New York Times.