Snowy Ornament by Clayton Longstaff

November 14, 2023

Poem title: Snowy Ornament Poet name: Clayton Longstaff Poem: —crowned golden kinglets plunge scarp to seed igniting vistas of white embers behind our eyes roving synaptically dead branches for a view like readers fluttering curved ridges, crests of keratin, frost and bone— a berry grows plump on trampled kinnikinnick— moments earlier we brightened nearing the story’s summit, laughter latticing the air as we shadowed tracks of a desire path retelling how high you were, the birthday cake, the LSD— we’re scaling the icy slope of this part of you, peaked like purling solstice sky: auditable the way a snowfall is— End of poem. Credits and bio: Copyright © Clayton Longstaff Clayton Longstaff’s work has appeared in publications including The Dalhousie Review, Geist, The Literary Review of Canada, Canadian Literature, Prism International, and elsewhere. He lives in Victoria, BC.