Along back roads,
low branches, snow-weighted,
skim the car’s roof
with a fade
and groove as if a waning beat
could signal closure and we’d
be done for good with things.
I loved you most in winter.
That hum
of sleet and tires.
The uncertainties of ice
and a narrow road.
The phone’s bad connection.
Your voice breaking up.
Detour
J. A. Lagana’s poetry has appeared in Atlanta Review, Burningword Literary Journal, Cider Press Review, Heron Tree, Rattle, and elsewhere. She is the author of the poetry collection MAKE SPACE (Finishing Line Press, 2023) and a forthcoming chapbook EDGE of HIGHWAY. She was a finalist for the 2023 Julia Peterkin Literary Award in Poetry. An avid bird-watcher and knitter, she is a founder and former co-editor of River Heron Review and lives in Bucks County PA where she raised her family. Learn more at jlagana.com. (https://www.jlagana.com)