Campbell, Jennifer, About the Two Felled Adirondack Chairs Frozen on the Patio

About the Two Felled Adirondack Chairs Frozen on the Patio

Jennifer Campbell, SUNY Erie Professor of English

Poem originally published in Evening Street Review

I know what it looks like. I’m sure the neighbors think we’ve given up the act, upper-middle order upended, refused the fire pit and tucked away Tiki bar.

Not a failing, these light chairs stay the course all winter, whether frozen upside down or blown across the yard, reminders of endurance and a touch of madness.

They are snow rulers and weather barometers, perches for the birds that decide it is mild enough to stay. Bark-brown, the plastic chairs have a place against green or white.

And my husband and I watch them, out the window, through the sliding door, reporting on their micro movements, certain the toppled seats will remain for the next time we desire to fill them.