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winter alert

winter alert

By Jonathan Chan

after Robert Hayden

          i of the fog’s
     trust,
         graceful slip of
                           weight,
          force
                           cresting
in a stammer,     air
          thinning          in the throat,

dream of maple and
                            mountain
          ash,          stung hand scooping
          withered
                                     cedar and pine, toes

supped on slush, and breath
          escaping
                            as a vent,

                                     each trampled like
                            grass from

                                           wind.

          through creeping sweat, by

bending bough i pray,

                                           for with each naked,
                                           quivering tree
                                           or parted
                                                         dove,

                            am i less to you, my God, than

          they?

Photo by Marek Szturc on Unsplash

Jonathan Chan is a writer and editor of poems and essays. Born in New York to a Malaysian father and South Korean mother, he was raised in Singapore and educated at Cambridge and Yale Universities. He is the author of the poetry collection going home (Landmark, 2022). He has an abiding interest in faith, identity, and creative expression. More of his writing can be found at jonbcy.wordpress.com.