Four years later—February remains stunted
a mix of dark mud and chocolate. I have found
no way to thank first responders or some guardian
spirit that gathered me broken and splintered
from the gravel shoulder.
I hold no sound memory in volume or frequency
of the side mirror shattering against
the hinge and pivot of my ulna, radius and humerus.
How can I thank my surgeon in full or partial
for welding my elbow with titanium? I can’t extend
fully but I can flex with a wide range of motion.
Each anniversary of induced coma I receive
an olfactory visitation. Is it Te Wung Fu’s melancholy
clove blossom? Oxygen holds no odor yet the flexible
tubing delivering it wafts something green
but plastic. A strong spirit arrived to press
the vapor into my lungs. How can I claim
the smell organic and familiar?
Postpartum: Do you hear a Whistle or Horn?
Three in the morning some
call it the wolf hour
she takes comfort in the sound
of the train whistle, thinks of the
conductor, wide-awake
passengers noticing the
sharp lines of the crescent moon
leaning between trees
neon signs promising food
and drink. The whistle echo
its familiar frequency sounds
promising. Her baby grunts
content between sides and she
hears fluency in foreign
languages he will one day speak.
Her doctor asks: Have you been
anxious or worried for no good
reason? She answers no then smiles.
One town beyond, train horn
sounds, new mother
paces with her fretful baby. She
wavers between some fugue state
neither awake nor asleep. Her milk smells
off-- like clotted cream her baby never seems
satisfied. She dreams of stretching
out her doughy body on the cold
metal tracks, shutting her eyes
and ears to confusing needs--waiting
for the wheels to crush her
with a journey toward relief. Her doctor
was behind schedule--had no time
to ask the three questions to rate
her for postnatal depression.
Jenna Rindo lives with her husband on five acres in rural Wisconsin where they raised their five children. Her poems have been published in Shenandoah, AJN, Natural Bridge, Rhino, Verse Virtual, One Magazine and others. In 2022 she won the Lorine Niedecker prize for a group of 5 published poems. For years she worked in hospitals as a pediatric RN and now works with refugee students. She is a runner and biker and competes in 5K races to full marathons.