Nicole Yurcaba’s most recent poem to appear here was “The Pale Goth’s Mother Compliments the Pale Goth” (April 2017)

Settling Into Marriage
for my husband, Dwayne

[7:45] AM
April breathes through
the bedroom, shushing
curtains guarding
windows, half open;
the black walnut
outside shudders,
bare-limbed except
the cardinal resting,
peering into our chamber
as you deliver hot cocoa
in my favorite ceramic mug,
a whispering kiss,
the deliverance
from sleep and assurance
that despite winter
and spring’s flashing floods,
the daffodils beneath
the black walnut bloom
year after year.