Glass Often Cracks Before it Shatters

A News Response Poem

I did not know you
but your words echoed 
in my mind, electrifying questions,
brilliant decisions.

Glass is not always clear,
and sometimes we can’t even see
what is in front of us.

I did not know you
but your quote was on my wall,
words about courage and caged birds.

Sometimes glass is water,
mutable, waiting to be cut.

I did not know you
but I devoured newspaper 
pages describing your extraordinary
stamina, how you moved through sea
with unstoppable determination.

Sometimes glass is a mirror,
a reflection that shows us
who we can be.

I did not know you
but I saw you, standing tall
in front of crowds, unrelenting,
speaking truth, fearless.

Glass shatters quietly, 
but only after being chipped
and chipped and chipped away.

I did not know you
but I saw you, smashing 
on the court, swinging 
confident, powerful, unapologetic.

Glass is nothing 
but ordinary sand 
hardened, beautiful, 
shards ready to fly.

---

Rest in Power, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, with the other sheroes who showed us the way.

---

I am proud to be a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please consider reading and supporting our members.

Ray Young Bear: From Red Earth Drive, Meskwaki Settlement

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights

Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll

Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines

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Steph Copley: It Was Never a Dress, Johnston

Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake

Suzanna de Baca: Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley

Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County

Arnold Garson: Second Thoughts, Okoboji and Sioux Falls

Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji

Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames

Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines

Rob Gray: Rob Gray’s Area, Ankeny

Nik Heftman: The Seven Times, Los Angeles and Iowa

Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilia

Chris Jones, Chris’s Substack, Des Moines

Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo

Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames

Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey

Letters from Iowans, Iowa

Darcy Maulsby: Keepin’ It Rural, Calhoun County

Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa

Alison McGaughey, The Inquisitive Quad Citizen, Quad Cities

Kurt Meyer: Showing Up, St. Ansgar

Wini Moranville: Wini’s Food Stories, Des Moines

Jeff Morrison: Between Two Rivers, Cedar Rapids

Kyle Munson: Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines

Jane Nguyen: The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines

John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines

Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines

Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.

Dave Price: Dave Price’s Perspective, Des Moines

Macey Shofroth: The Midwest Creative, Norwalk

Larry Stone: Listening to the Land, Elkader

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona

Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County

Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport

Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines

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