{"id":9458,"date":"2026-04-27T16:34:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T16:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/?post_type=article&#038;p=9458"},"modified":"2026-04-27T16:34:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T16:34:03","slug":"two-poems-21","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/two-poems-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Poems"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Charlotte Pence<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>ODE TO IRON<\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It swings our doors.<\/p>\n<p>unlocks our homes,<\/p>\n<p>scuttles our oxygen.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Yet, we don\u2019t think to thank it.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Only when it breaks,<\/p>\n<p>blows, bleeds do we<\/p>\n<p>know what we\u2019ve loved<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>and simply haven\u2019t called<\/p>\n<p>by name\u2014like the red<\/p>\n<p>bird at the feeder.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Not ours, never ours.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>And isn\u2019t that why we point<\/p>\n<p>and ask whoever is near,<\/p>\n<p><em>Do you know what it\u2019s called?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It isn\u2019t the name we want<\/p>\n<p>but to slash the theoretical<\/p>\n<p>line known as the horizon,<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>break forth a new ocean<\/p>\n<p>that flows like red,<\/p>\n<p>and that softens the iron<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>between us.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>MISJUDGMENTS<\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As a child, did you also<\/p>\n<p>find yourself hiding<\/p>\n<p>too long, too often,<\/p>\n<p>in closet or clavicle, above<\/p>\n<p>portico, below patella,<\/p>\n<p>happily cobwebbed<\/p>\n<p>under bed and attic hole?<\/p>\n<p>And did you also, before<\/p>\n<p>the thrush and toilet flush,<\/p>\n<p>before the robin\u2019s chirp<\/p>\n<p>and coffee pot growl,<\/p>\n<p>believe your mother would<\/p>\n<p>enjoy it if you imprisoned yourself<\/p>\n<p>behind the skinny dining-chair legs,<\/p>\n<p>determined never to be found?<\/p>\n<p>Underneath the white tablecloth,<\/p>\n<p>you became a liminal being:<\/p>\n<p>the space between<\/p>\n<p>someone\u2019s daughter<\/p>\n<p>and someone\u2019s lost daughter,<\/p>\n<p>delighting too long<\/p>\n<p>in your mother\u2019s cries,<\/p>\n<p>your name changing,<\/p>\n<p>chambering, pulsing anew<\/p>\n<p>as she pumped it each time.<\/p>\n<p>And not that you knew who<\/p>\n<p>was Demeter, you witnessed<\/p>\n<p>a mother\u2019s grief that day, delighting<\/p>\n<p>as Greek gods do, in spinning<\/p>\n<p>a moment like a China plate<\/p>\n<p>on their fingertips,<\/p>\n<p>marveling how swiftly life can go<\/p>\n<p>from good to crash.<\/p>\n<pre>                                   How quickly<\/pre>\n<p>her relief ripped around when you<\/p>\n<p>jumped out, laughing. How<\/p>\n<p>the hug you had imagined<\/p>\n<p>slapped your face. How you<\/p>\n<p>couldn\u2019t blame her, not<\/p>\n<p>even then. How, you knew,<\/p>\n<p>you\u2019d do it again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Charlotte Pence &nbsp; ODE TO IRON &nbsp; It swings our doors. unlocks our homes, scuttles our oxygen. &nbsp; Yet, we don\u2019t think to thank it. &nbsp; Only when it breaks, blows, bleeds do we know what we\u2019ve loved &nbsp; and simply haven\u2019t called by name\u2014like the red bird at the feeder. &nbsp; Not ours, never [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":9466,"template":"","categories":[9,49,119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9458","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aquifer","category-literary-features","category-poetry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Two Poems - The Florida Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/two-poems-21\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Two Poems - The Florida Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Charlotte Pence &nbsp; ODE TO IRON &nbsp; It swings our doors. unlocks our homes, scuttles our oxygen. &nbsp; Yet, we don\u2019t think to thank it. &nbsp; Only when it breaks, blows, bleeds do we know what we\u2019ve loved &nbsp; and simply haven\u2019t called by name\u2014like the red bird at the feeder. &nbsp; Not ours, never [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/two-poems-21\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Florida Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/04\/Charlotte-Pence-HS-cropped.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1396\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/two-poems-21\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/two-poems-21\\\/\",\"name\":\"Two Poems - The Florida Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/two-poems-21\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/two-poems-21\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/43\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Charlotte-Pence-HS-cropped.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-27T16:34:03+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/two-poems-21\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/two-poems-21\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/two-poems-21\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/43\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Charlotte-Pence-HS-cropped.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/43\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Charlotte-Pence-HS-cropped.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1396},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/two-poems-21\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Two Poems\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Florida Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Two Poems - The Florida Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/two-poems-21\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Two Poems - The Florida Review","og_description":"Charlotte Pence &nbsp; 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