Snow & Rock
Once in a lifetime snow, and then the slush
Feels true to say, or true enough to start
The falsity of start, the needed lie
Made of puddles and streamlets of water
“Water!” people have wailed over the years
And before calendars, before the clock
“Clouds!” official sponsor of crude verses
And that returns us to a rock on Mars
A trustworthy midway point towards relaunch
And that should thrill some and offput others
While this rock on Mars, one among billions
With its own crude adventures, says nothing
As it’s surfing down a slope, ’cause it can
Like slush dwindling, or sonnet trickling off.
Rodrigo Toscano is a poet based in New Orleans. He is the author of twelve books of poetry. His latest books are WHITMAN. CANNONBALL. PUEBLA (Omnidawn, 2025, National Poetry Series finalist, NYPL best books of 2025). The Cut Point (Counterpath, 2023), The Charm & The Dread (Fence, 2022). Forthcoming is Salvage Nation: 100 sonnets (Winter Editions, fall 2026). His Collapsible Poetics Theater was a 2008 National Poetry Series winner. His poetry has appeared in over 25 anthologies, including, Best American Poetry and Best American Experimental Poetry. Toscano received a New York State Fellowship in Poetry. He won the Edwin Markham 2019 prize for poetry. He works for the Labor Institute in conjunction with the United Steelworkers on educational projects that involve environmental and labor justice culture transformation. rodrigotoscano.com