Four Poems
by Kenneth Pobo
EARLY SNOWDROPS
A friend tells me that,
in January, she has already
seen snowdrops budding.
Has winter gotten bored
and decided to leave early?
I hope so. I look bulky
stuffed in a parka. Gloves
dull dexterity. I go out
in the yard to see if we have
early snowdrops, early anything.
No, I saw winter smoking
a stogie by our shed. I didn’t wave.
Heading back to the house,
can it be?, one primrose
by the front walk. A deep
blue back in early April. Today’s
sun is strong. Winter might
just melt.
MRS. MUGRONI GREW
Her many glads grew in rows,
each bulb exactly a foot
from another bulb. Geometry
thrived in her garden, especially
straight lines. Circles,
less so. By July the glads
were budded and blooming,
a marching band where
the musicians all wore different
colored uniforms. The music, soft
wind on petals. I asked her why
the straight lines? She said
her mother grew them that way.
By fall, the glads were gone,
stems full of yesterday. She’d
get on her knees and dig them up,
store them in her basement where
they slept until April.
SCROLLING: APRIL 9, 2025
I often take my phone camera
when I do my morning
garden stroll. Flowers
are fleeting—I want
to remember as many
as I can. The camera says this
was a Wednesday. My dad
had died six weeks before. I had
just finished cleaning out
his apartment. An orange
fritillary reminded me of
Denmark where I saw at least
500 in bloom. Three red tulips
in a container in front
of our house, a yellow hint
inside each bloom. Hepaticas,
tiny and white, yet such
a deep song. Flowering quince,
red against a blue sky. I stop
scrolling, rest in what
has gone, for now.
DELAWARE RIVER
No way to make river
water rest
or give up secrets. We’re
also in flux, dashing down
one road or another.
We should stop,
at least for a while.
The river doesn’t stop.
It carries history
and twigs. This broken tarp
of sunlight could easily
drift away. A river
is possibility. We may
or may not stay. Either way,
we’re moving too.
BIO: Kenneth Pobo (he/him) is a retired gay poet living in Pennsylvania. He is on Face Book and Blue Sky. He has a new chapbook out called Dindi From Yoopsconsin (Bottlecap Press) and a new book out called It's Me, Dulcet Tones (Half Inch Press). In addition to Argyle, his work has appeared in North Dakota Quarterly, Mudfish, Nimrod, and elsewhere.