Nokian Hakkapeliittas - Mar 28 2021

 

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.