Slow Work

By Julie L. Moore

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I awoke to a song in the field,  
penny whistle beckoning in the pitch  
of expectation, last evening’s sleet  
sighing beneath the morning sun.  

Nothing melts this month, least of all hearts  
of ice. What else can I say? The devil does exist  

in the dreadful details. His heavy musk  
hangs in the air, clawing at us. He is father  
to many lies because his misery  
loves their company.  

But oh, that song! It lifts me  
not into rapture over the Valentine sky— 

this is not about transcendence— 
but into the slow work of the rabbit outside,  
foraging for food amid the shrubs, 
toting a twig back to its den.  

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A Best of the Net and eight-time Pushcart Prize nominee, Julie L. Moore is the author of four poetry collections, including Full Worm Moon, which won a 2018 Woodrow Hall Top Shelf Award and received honorable mention for the Conference on Christianity and Literature's 2018 Book of the Year Award. Recent poetry has appeared in African American Review, Fare Forward, Image Journal, Quartet, River Heron Review, Thimble, and Verse Daily. See julielmoore.com.

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• Last Call / Submit by 02/14/2026 to Sonnet Boom: Love Poems for Miami, a poetry contest brought to you by SWWIM, Elevate Miami, and O, Miami. Youth and adult categories. Cash prizes. Free to enter. See Submittable for complete guidelines.

• 02/12 / Poetry Reading and Conversation with visiting poet-in-residence Allison Blevins & local poets Carolina Hospital, Nicole Hospital-Medina, and Holly Iglesias / The BBar at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 7-8:30 pm EST / Free

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