Blizzards

The world is full of blizzards,
but they don’t all belong to you.

I heard of a local guy with the same name
as a famous rock star, but the spelling slightly off.
I thought he might be that rock star,
but he wasn’t.

The world is full of hurricanes,
but they don’t all belong to you.

I discovered this man with the same name
as the famous rock star suffered a storm
unfathomable.

The world is full of cyclones,
but they don’t all belong to you.

The murder of a child, a mistake, by thugs,
breaking a father’s heart so it
chokes him, breath by breath,
so close he could taste the grave.

The world is full of tidal waves
but they don’t all belong to you.

I would have preferred him to be
the rock star, so I could tell him what
a big fan I am, that I love him, and we could
play Scrabble and eat veggie burgers together.

The world is full of nuclear bombs,
but they don’t all belong to you.

We can walk through blizzards until snow
comes up to our noses, but we won’t see the other side
of winter until the world escapes annihilation and misery
sits on the ground till Easter.

 

Shannon O’Connor holds an MFA in Writing and Literature from Bennington College. She has been published in The Wilderness Hous Literary Review, Wordgathering, The New Engagement, and others. She lives in the Boston area and enjoys reading while taking public transportation.

Chad Parenteau is Associate Editor of Oddball Magazine. He hopes you’re enjoying this holiday season.