I will employ my loftiest language and poetic knowledge to tell you I think this little poem is great. It irritates me like a mosquito in my ear me but like the mosquito, I can't stop thinking about it. I feel like it ends before it should (so much more I want to know!) but am certain one word longer would be too long and would kill the poem. This poem is a good reminder that what poet leaves out is often as important as what they leave in.
Even if you disagree with me (or just don't care), I want you to at least think for a moment about what more information would do to the effect of the poem. Think about some questions you may have- Who is gone? What happened? How long has it been? If she told you, would you care?
Now I ask you- Does the longing for more information we experience as a reader make us more in tune with the speaker of the poem or does it distance us? Maybe both. I advise you take a hot (or warm) cup of tea and mull it over awhile. Enjoy!
Winter Love
by Linda Gregg
I would like to decorate this silence,
but my house grows only cleaner
and more plain. The glass chimes I hung
over the register ring a little
when the heat goes on.
I waited too long to drink my tea.
It was not hot. It was only warm.
Found at: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/176562
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