I'm a big fan of short, imagistic, haiku-like poems, and here's a fine one for the end of the year.

It's by Sarah Freligh of New York, from her book “Sad Math,” from Moon City Press.

December

On the fire escape, one
stupid petunia still blooms,
purple trumpet blowing
high notes at the sky long
after the rest of the band
has packed up
and gone home.


American Life in Poetry does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. It is made possible by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2015 by Sarah Freligh, "December," from Sad Math, (Moon City Press, 2015). Poem reprinted by permission of Sarah Freligh and the publisher. Introduction copyright @2019 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.