The Walk to Work – Poetry by D. Walsh Gilbert

for Meredith

You move through the evening 
against the traffic flow. 
People going home 
toward pork chops and wine. 
The sun has warmed 
the sidewalk and the awnings 
are out;  spots of shadow 
dot your way. Some 
neon lights. Some closed 
signs. You walk 
with sure strides                       
as you turn the street corner. 
The night sky deepens— twilight’s thin time, 
a firefly, or two. 
Sirens nearly block 
your way, but 
you move through. 
The stars candle into the city. 
A last sip of coffee from a paper cup.   
Inside the glass vestibule, 
within the corridors of second-shift, 
the lamps are burning,  
and the starry sky is over it all. 

“The lamps are burning,  
and the starry sky is over it all.”  
– from a letter by Vincent van Gogh 

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About the Poet

D. Walsh Gilbert is the author of Ransom (Grayson Books, 2017). A Pushcart nominee, she has also received honors from The Farmington River Literary Arts Center and the Artist for Artists Project at the Hartford Art School. She serves as co-editor of the Connecticut River Review published by the Connecticut Poetry Society and lives in a rural setting in Connecticut. 

For the first time in nearly five years, Vita Brevis is closed for submission. Read the full story here.