Radiator

By Connie Wanek b. 1952 Connie Wanek

Mittens are drying on the radiator,

boots nearby, one on its side.

Like some monstrous segmented insect

the radiator elongates under the window.

Or it is a beast with many shoulders

domesticated in the Ice Age.

How many years it takes

to move from room to room!

Some cage their radiators

but this is unnecessary

as they have little desire to escape.

Like turtles they are quite self-contained.

If they seem sad, it is only the same sadness

we all feel, unlovely, growing slowly cold.

Source: Bonfire (New Rivers Press, 1997)

Biography

Born in Madison, Wisconsin, poet Connie Wanek grew up on a farm outside Green Bay and in Las Cruces, New Mexico. She was educated at New Mexico State University. Wanek’s poetry collections include Bonfire (1997), winner of the New Voices Award from New Rivers Press, and Hartley Field (2002). Her image-driven poems often engage nature and natural order. Praising Hartley Field, poet David Orr observed, “Wanek is from Wisconsin, . . .

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