Steven Schroeder | eyes askance
in memoriam Susan Schroeder (1963-2023)
What comes to mind now that she is gone
is that fierce fearless look in eyes askance,
a spark poised to set the world on fire
and how it flickered when the weight
of the world filled her mind
with every little thing
that could go wrong.
I always tried to make a joke of it
by pushing the imagination of disaster
beyond absurdity, and that made her laugh
when she was young.
I wonder how much light the world has lost
by setting eyes askance to flickering,
how much lighter the world would be
if it suffered them to blaze,
set every common bush afire.
Chicago
16 December 2023
