Each morning
the view promises something,
and I always hope for a bald eagle,
or red-tailed hawk,
or even a skein of geese floating by purposefully.
But today, it is simply fog—
a beautiful, misty blanket of it—
rising off the river, like the steam off my coffee, or—
as Poe described the air about the House of Usher—
a “mystic vapor.”
But this fog did not oppress;
it did not disappoint.
It held me still in that moment,
and as it lifted and the sun filtered through
and lit the sky into a state of warmth,
I took it as a gift.
Jessica Jost-Costanzo
Jessica Jost-Costanzo, Ph.D., teaches at Mount Aloysius College in Cresson, Pennsylvania. She teaches composition and literature courses, and loves to write poetry. She has published with Ancient Paths, Covid and Poetry, and Tiny Seed. She lives with her husband Ryan, their daughter Nora, and their two cats.