Nokian Hakkapeliittas
Mar 28 2021
I put off changing the tires
too long.
And now, the winter ones
with their soft rubber
knobby tungsten studs
and cleverly fashioned tread
will wear badly
due to my neglect,
making that flat slapping sound
on the snow-bare road,
stiffening the turns
burning extra gas.
The winter ones
that stick to the bare April pavement
like a man desperate for love
will cling to anyone
who seems warm and clear enough
in her intentions.
It's spring, after all
and rebirth is in the air,
the mating calls of birds
and crocuses sunning;
teenage boys, imagining summer,
when the girls
will work on their even tans
or better still, all-over ones,
the heat softening
their coolness and inhibitions,
warm beer
getting tacky where it spilled.
Sorry . . .yes, the tires, of course.
Too soft and sticking to the road
because spring snuck up on me.
As if it doesn't come
every year
around this time.
When if my mind doesn't wander
it gets stuck in a rut,
and could also use a change
for the good.
I take a certain delight in titles. Sometimes, they offer a little clever misdirection. Sometimes, they do the opposite, keeping the reader on track: clued in to the important theme or through-line of the poem that can get lost in the tangents and embellishments. Sometimes, because I don't want to give anything away – steal my own thunder! – I resort to the fallback of repeating the first line, or using a single cryptic or anodyne word. And sometimes, I very intentionally steal my own thunder: when there is a critical line on which the poem turns and I fall in love with it, I don't mind using it twice. Anyway, by the time I get to the title, the poem is pretty much done, and all that's left is the fun of it!
I bought new winter tires this season, and went for these highly rated but relatively obscure Finnish ones. Since poetry is all about the richness of language, I couldn't resist using the company name as the title. I often think how a list of my titles will appear in a table of contents, and imagine those boxes of chocolates that come with one of those forensically outlined profiles (they remind me of the chalk outlines of murder victims): even though you can't be sure which you will and will not like, it's exciting to find a tantalizing looking one and just greedily dip in. I suspect, like the delectable chocolate you pick from a full box, this title will also pique some curiosity and catch some eyes.
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