"Questions are Powerful Weapons", Eric Colburn (June 2026)

“Questions are Powerful Weapons”
for Stellaluna Rodriguez

Your poem made me laugh—I think—I mean—
is that a crime?—it might be—after all,
to be as—serious—or should we call
it “real”—as life deserves—is rarely seen,
And yet—your poem got there—moving between
ideas—as a halfback—moves the ball—
across—a broken field—as tacklers fall
behind—and meaning moves—and comes to mean
 
more, in the open sky above the page
than words denote—condensing—like a cloud—
looking down—eyelessly—upon the crowd—
while someone—struts and frets—across the stage—
the singer’s words—like ours—rain down in sheets—
turn mud—then feed—the secret, hidden seeds.