Poor Counsel
I cannot tell you
If ice, when it’s thin and blooming
Is like a window pane;
If, when you are very still,
You can see walleye and pike
Darting in the dull deep.
I cannot ask you
If ice, when it is thick,
Can hold in any sound.
Mouth to ear, mouth to mouth I hear
It is remarkable how jealous
Even small lakes can be,
How whole the seal.
I cannot warn you
How to know when the lake
Will become a tired old woman
Sweeping piles of
Ice or rock or bone
Onto the shoulder of the shore
I cannot teach you
How to find the right place
To cut a hole in the ice.
How even to begin?
What blade can control the cut?
I hear that ice tears like skin
(Mercurial)
And heals like a warm shore
(Scarless).
Karly Vance grew up in Bay City, Michigan and studied writing at Hope College. Her writing has been published in journals including Common Ground Review, Dunes Review, Midwest Quarterly, and Madison Review. She lives with her husband and son in the Chicago area.