Welcome to Poetically Yours. Poetically Yours showcases poems by northern Illinois poets. This week’s segment features a poem by Kyle White.
White is an author and illustrator living in Sycamore, Illinois. His latest book is Freezing, Thawing: New & Revised Stories from the Midwest. Here’s his poem “Upon Consultation with Box Turtles.”
Right now, on this 10-below winter day–as I order more things online, recheck email, and thumb through social media again–there are animals sleeping underground. Underfoot. And inside trees. Trees that have shed their hard-won leaves before taking winter naps. In the economies of box turtles, bears, bees, sycamores, black walnuts, and chinquapin oaks–all more noteworthy than I–it's best to stop looking busy for a time.
Can you imagine the dormant box turtle in his home–dormant for five months of the year–tossing and turning, worrying, “I should’ve… If only I would’ve…What could’ve been… ?”
Of course you can’t imagine it.
The box turtle is quietly snoring, in and out:
Let’s be honest.
Let’s be honest.
Let’s be honest.
- Yvonne Boose is a current corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. It's a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms like WNIJ. You can learn more about Report for America at wnij.org.
