Poetry by Lo Riddell
Here comes nature’s peace
offering: pale landscapes
with feather-brush forests
licking the first snowflakes
straight from the sky.
Invisible sun shines through
shadow-bellied clouds, turning
blue skies white with promise
of more snow. My grandmother
alchemizes the last of her summer
blackberries into cakes that fit
kindly in my open hands.
Dusk comes early once again,
creeping in through kitchen windows
to steal a piece of fresh-baked bread
from the stovetop. The holly berries
light up the roadside like string lights
for families of deer trotting by.
At last, December takes her stage
and exhales the passing year.
Lo Riddell is a lesbian writer from southern Ohio, currently based in New England. She received her BFA in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University in 2022, and now spends her free time writing poetry, prose, and essays on pop culture. You can find her on Instagram at @vintagelouisa.
