When the workday has proven difficult
and heat hangs like Spanish moss
on a coastal southern Cypress
view that moss     that day
as a silver garland    a fleeting phase
in a calendar deep with content.
Take rest in the shade of peach
and mangos on our portico
partake of fruit that waits for you
then close your eyes
feel my fingertips
cool on your forehead
stroking your brow goodnight.

Mary Anna Scenga Kruch, a career educator and writer, supervises student teachers and leads a monthly writing group. Her publications include We Draw Breath from the Same Sky (2019) and Grace Notes: A Memoir in Poetry & Prose(2021). Recent poetry appears in Ovunque Siamo, Qua Literary & Fine Arts Magazine, and Wayne Literary Review.