February 14th, 2026
the return
Sheryl Massaro
nearly-end-of-winter
air brings all the
darkness it has passed
through, all the mottled
trunks and naked limbs
that knew its touch,
all the dreams of
hibernating beasts, all the
silence of frozen waters,
the sharp blue skies
and the heavy grey
ones, their pale flakes,
the sleds, the snowmen.
soft honking of the
geese it guides back.
Bio:
Massaro is a poet and oil painter from Frederick, MD. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from American University. Massaro leads long-term “words in progress” writing groups and publishes a monthly column on “Everyday Poetry” in The Frederick News-Post. She has self-published three books of poetry, including an interpretation/translation of Rilke’s Duino Elegies. Other books are “afloat,” a collection of poems on aspects of water and “a generation” collection of poems from a 30-year period. Her poetry is in lower case as a nod to equality, all words being equal.
Find Massaro’s books at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and sherylmassaro.com.