~ Delta Poetry Review ~

Daniel Thompson

The Hurricane Before the Frost

Strewn after the hurricane,

Leaves and leaf-like needles,

Limbs like bones heaved.

Snapped porches, electric

Stinging the streets,

Greased, licked warmth.

Estate in the delta,

Liminal shelter,

Veiled shelters,

Slatted and hinged. 

Astute crows sailing,

Awkard on the wing,

Like synths dialed

Over the radio,

Bleating in eighth notes,

Crow music on raven time,

Tinsel streaming on the beak.

I am looking at the bones again,

And heaving what I can of

My self, formidable in the

Bone-clean frost

That crackles across

The year of the hurricane.

Daniel Thompson was born in the Black Forest region of southern Germany and has lived in New Orleans since the age of six. His latest work can be read in the June 2025 edition of The Banyan Review and will be upcoming in The Chiron Review, Sojourners Magazine, and The Orchards Poetry Journal.