A lifelong resident of Connecticut, John Muro is a graduate of Trinity College, Wesleyan University, and the University of Connecticut. His professional career has been dedicated to environmental stewardship and conservation, and he has held executive and volunteer positions in those fields. His first volume of poems, In the Lilac Hour, was published last fall by Antrim House, and it is available on Amazon. His works have appeared or will soon appear in Euphony, Freshwater, Amethyst Review, and elsewhere.
Aubade
“I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.” —T. Roethke
Early Sunday morning ambling in awe beneath
The dense canopies of trees, their scarlet
Satchels slung across the rounded shoulders
Of boughs and dangling like the languid arms
Of neighbors still loafing abed. Now a starless
Silence gives way to the hiss of sprinklers popping
Up their tiny, saw-toothed heads dispensing looping
Sprays of water like a benediction; the rhythmic
Repetition of plumes in precise industry splintering
Into prisms of light, a carousel of mists and arcing
Streams as the metallic rustle slows and abandons ear,
Giving way to the sweet happenstance of birdsong,
The brittle scuttling of fallen leaves and slack channels
Of blue unspooling among mottled river stones of cloud.
Clementine Unbound 
I want to walk around the house reading this poem out loud! The sounds are gorgeous–all those sibilant S’s and the rolling L’s, and the precise clipping of the P’s and T’s. The internal rhymes are lovely too–subtle, but there, lending themselves to the rhythmic pace, slow like the morning unfolding.
The imagery is gorgeous–languid arms, saw-toothed heads, carousel of mists, and my favorite, mottled river stones of clouds! It’s not easy to avoid cliche when writing about morning clouds, but I’ve never heard it described quite like this.
Someone should film this poem with a voice-over, like a mini-documentary. 🙂
This poem is going to stay with me, to be enjoyed again.
LikeLike
Muro never fails to open our senses to the wonders of life and living. A welcome nudge from everyday dullness. Cool!
LikeLike
John Muro does it again ! His ability to bring life to his words and turn monotony into magic never ceases to amaze me.
LikeLike
Loved: How a starless
Silence gives way to the hiss of sprinklers popping
Up their tiny, saw-toothed heads dispensing looping
Sprays of water like a benediction;
Congrats, John.
LikeLike