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Image by Aditya Vyas

ROOTS

the madrigal, volume ii

Snow Angels

by andre peltier

The northern slopes

of Michigan,

blanketed in quiet

snow,

were for sledding

and sledding only.

We ducked under

electrified

fence and barbed wire.

We pulled

saucers and Flexible Fliers

through knee-deep drifts,

tromped to the

frozen creek,

watched rabbits and

deer forage frozen food.

We lounged

along the banks of

the icy creek

making snow angels:

arms and legs akimbo.

 

Those deep impressions,

like the foot-prints of

the white-tailed rabbits,

hoof-prints of

the white-tailed deer,

slowly faded as the winter

gave way to spring,

or as the next February

storm erased them

from hillsides and leafless

forest floors.

Those carefree days

also erased

like the angels.

Like old photos,

memories curl and fade,

melting into history,

on the northern slopes

of forgotten days.

Andre F. Peltier is a Lecturer III at Eastern Michigan University where he has taught African American Literature, Afrofuturism, Science Fiction, Poetry, and Freshman Composition since 1998. He lives in Ypsilanti, MI, with his wife, children, turtles, dog, and cat. His poetry has appeared in Big Whoopie Deal, In Parentheses, Griffel Magazine, Fahmidan Journal, The Write Launch, Spillover Mag, and Tofu Ink and is forthcoming in The Great Lakes Review, La Piccioletta Barca, Prospectus, C*nsorship Mag, Melbourne Culture Corner, Openwork Magazine, The JFA Human Rights Journal, Sledgehammer, and an anthology from Quillkeepers Press. In his free time, he obsesses about soccer and comic books. Twitter: @aandrefpeltier

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