Muscle of difficulty

Muscle of difficulty

Alice Major

November's clench. A sullen（愠怒的） band 

 of cloud is louring in the West --

 a low forehead, a corrugated（波纹的） frown. 

 Behind it comes the cold drop of frost 

 and autumn's first hard night. 

Corrugator -- the tightening band 

 over the forehead's bone, 

 the 'muscle of difficulty,' 

 of concentration, effort, of leaning in 

 to frigid wind. 

I lean into this coming season 

 of difficulty, when the sun 

 will struggle to raise its head 

 above the angle of sunset, 

 its bleak obliquity（倾斜）. 

November's forehead wears 

 scoured furrow, tension. 

 Forgets joy, the orbicular（球形的） crinkle 

 of eye, those other muscles 

 to be strengthened. 

I think of squinting into the ache 

 of snow, corrugated tracks. 

 Facing into November, I find it 

 difficult to anticipate 

 consolations --

the warmth of small, enclosed spaces, 

 the candles of memory 

 at its center. How can this ever be 

 enough? I fear too much. 

 The losses. Isolation.