Two Seasons

This poem was written in response to the Rattle® Poetry Ekphrastic Challenge for September 2024 and was ultimately not selected. You can find more information here.

https://www.rattle.com/ekphrastic/

Two Seasons

The joke is,

There are only two seasons in Chicago.

-

Winter:

The word itself cuts like wind-chill

Down to your bones

Skin screaming and eyes stinging

Tears solid as they roll down your cheeks

The windy city earns its name

While the lake freezes over

Record snow fall so deep that

You don’t know where to shovel it

-

Construction:

A constant war waged against the potholes

You sit waiting

As the concrete cattle chutes herd cars

Down the freeway lanes

Blinking orange cones like

Soldiers in an endless battalion

You curse the name of Kennedy

While all you see is a sea of brake lights

-

The joke is,

There are only two seasons in Chicago.

Submitted under MRB