Frigid November winds shrivel played-out community gardens. The 70-year-old poet sits alone in the 94-year old condo, grieves his father’s ninety-first birthday. Troupes of hybrid SUVs traverse invisible 12,000-year-old glacial moraines. Ripples of multi-colored leaves carpet 100 year-old bricked street intersections.

Frank C. Modica is a retired teacher who taught children with special needs for over 34 years. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Dust Poetry, New Square, Sheila-Na-Gig, and Lit Shark. Frank’s first chapbook, “What We Harvest,” nominated for an Eric Hoffer book award, was published in the fall of 2021 by Kelsay Books. His second chapbook, “Old Friends,” was published this past December by Cyberwit Press.