Vox Populi
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Christine Rhein: Beware
March snow and a pair of robins
perched on whitened boughs. Blizzard
news, day after day. Your neighbor,
the way he laughed about this year’s
early birds, how he clenched his fist
to stress the Climate hoax! A chill
as you stand at your window. Robins
pummeled by gusting winds. The noise
of your neighbor starting up his blower,
his whirring just a giant lie. Thin ice,
an illusion, like loving without losing—
blink-quick—bright feathers to the storm.
Copyright 2018 Christine Rhein. First published online at American Scholar, as part of David Lehman’s “Next Line, Please” column.
Christine Rhein, a former auto engineer, is the author of Wild Flight, (Texas Tech University Press).
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It’s hard to imagine a more perfect poem than this one by Christine. The ending is amazing. We are all on thin ice and want to think it’s an illusion. What an accomplishment this poem is.
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I agree, Charlie!
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Superb! So kinetic in what it bears to the heart.
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thanks, sean. kinetic is an interesting way to describe the poem…
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I am so happy to see Christine in Vox Populi. She’s a top-notch poet.
Pat Barnes
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Yes, she is!
>
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And I see the neighbor and my stomach clenches with his fists. I agree with Laure-Anne. The image will remain.
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Such intensity in this poem, and that very last image: “bright feathers to the storm.” I know this image will haunt me. Bravo Christine!
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