Stars blink tonight, a sign
of atmospheric turbulence,
something uncertain
in the wind moving
toward me instead of away
before the kiss and tell
of a downpour that soaks
into sandy soil and washes
fiddleheads near my deck,
preparing them for me
to pinch about a half-inch
from their furled fronds,
boil, and serve
with butter, salt, pepper,
and grated cheese.

Jeffrey Johannes, Port Edwards, WI is an artist and poet who has been published in Rosebud, Modern Haiku, Nimrod, and English Journal. He won the 2012 Hal Grutzmacher poetry award sponsored by Peninsula Pulse and co-edited the 2012 Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar and the Winter 2019 Bramble with his wife Joan.