Silence Is a Limiting Factor

water above, lake below

Sunrise on the frozen St. Lawrence, January 21, 2025 -- photos by the poet

Silence is a limiting factor
beneath the surface of the frozen
lake reflecting the sun
as if the quality of warmth
has been extracted and sunk
below the appearance of it.

Roethke said to learn by going where
to go, but sometimes it's where not to.
As I stood on the ice,
frozen solid enough in the
minus-twenty-one morning
for the danger of falling through

to be inconsequential, I still
felt the cold claw of death on my face,
I still wondered if I
shouldn't have remained reclining
like a leisurely potted
plant in the greenhouse of my room.

That was yesterday and indeed I
am glad I went out on the ice then.
But today I have learned
the limits of my world, and stay
within the warm confines of
my sunstrewn heated living room.

---