V. Penelope Pelizzon
Suspect
For Lynne
McMahon
A week in January warm as this
has the environmentalists
shaking heads; and the redbud now
blushes recklessly, though snow
forecasted in the coming days
will quickly punish it. Why,
knowing chlorofluorocarbons
kindled this week’s bright blazons,
are we lightened? Over the college lawn
laughter wafts from bodies strewn
beside a Frisbee game, whose players
shed their winter layers and use
cast-off coats to mark the goal.
Haven’t we been schooled?
How suspect a chemical
is happiness, while the sun’s unveiled
eye all evidence shows we should fear
still makes us bask in its splendor.