Guest Poem by Jodi Cadenhead

Writer, poet, former newspaper reporter, wife, mother, and non-profit nerd. Some guys think she’s fabulous. Her new grandson especially! Like those beloved childhood boxes of candied popcorn, she enjoys tucking a surprise inside her poems. Favourite poet: Louise Gluck. This poem is from Acumen 111.

The Best is Yet to Come

Everyone agreed it was the polar caps,
that went first, followed by
the Colorado River and the birds – pretty much, all of them,
not to mention the pandas, the monarch butterflies
and the green sea turtles.

But what really got our attention,
were the damn ice cubes.
Except for half of Europe,
that claims to enjoy drinking
room temperature Coke,
it became impossible to go
to a ballgame anymore.

You try drinking warm beer.
Without any ice,
Martinis went the way of dinosaurs.
By then, vinyl records
had melted away, which meant
no more Frank Sinatra to tell us –
The best is yet to come.

Title ‘The Best is Yet to Come’ from Sinatra song, by Carolyn Leigh and Cy Coleman, ‘You think you’ve seen the sun, but you ain’t seen it shine. . .You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. The best is yet to come.’