The snow’s blank whiteness
makes the hole in the ice
difficult to see. It’s there.
Big enough for a distracted
person to fall into. The ice hole
easily could not be missed. Especially
by this man. He’s looking down
onto his phone with a determined
lack of care. Placing a sign next
to this ice hole, wouldn’t make
a difference. I hesitate to warn him.
Maybe, he’ll get lucky and miss it.
Besides, the ice hole has nothing
to do with me. I yell over to him
anyway, “watch out, ice hole.”
Right before he fell in, he said
“what did you just call me?”
ICE HOLE
—from Poets Respond
December 9, 2021
__________
Danny Mask: “The genesis for this poem came from the intersection of my interpretation of a line taken from a Christmas greeting card, along with my love for word play, and the mind numbing social debate over vaccinations.”
