Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, HOW NEAR TO FEAR, by TOM LINKLATER


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

HOW NEAR TO FEAR, by                    
First Line: Suddenly, we couldn't even hear our own hearts / roaring
Subject(s): Fear; Snow


Suddenly, we couldn't even hear our own hearts
roaring
because of how heavy the snow
silence hammering
like when we'd tried to converse
on the very same couch.

Squinting,
we made out tiny little cries
way off behind,
little teeny pleas
from people bound to leave tracks
somewhere near ours,
two straining faces
mumbling for someone to save them
this one time,
just this one time 'please.'

We huddled together
considering a simple trip to cut a Christmas tree
gone unmentioned to anyone,
just two quick trees
in the far part of the woods,
one per each;
temperature expected to plummet later today,
flakes thicker if anything.

And then we heard the tiny cries again
from deep into the snow,
our hands barely two inches apart,
our trembling lips even less.

Copyright © Tom Linklater
http://www.unl.edu/schooner/psmain.htm
Prarie Schooner is a literary quarterly published since 1927 which
publishes original stories, poetry, essays, and reviews. Regularly cited in the
prize journals, the magazine is considered one of the most prestigious of the
campus-based literary journals.







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