rough
cockeyed
slats
knowing i fall short of reality
anothers dream, labor of love
splinters
nails
into strong shelter
Rough and splintered, empty and useless
Is this all there is of me?
and splendor of the past
reveals an opportunity today
batik
and quantum
glassy veil
of wonder
the warmth of living
held in the
pores of her
wooden walls
of light still
reflecting and
illuminating
urging me
to cast my eyes
up beyond
the surface
of my worn
decaying shell
I rest in shadows
uninviting
waiting
someone see me
venture in
unbury my treasures
I am yet standing
still
And touches a smooth forehead
Of someone unseen
My feet disturb ancient dust, sending it swirling
Through the stilted sunbeams shimmering through broken slats,
twirling through my memory the summers on this farm
And forming within the air long forgotten faded faces,
That when I reach dissolve again in dust and past.
Memories sleep
Times long ago
Cattle breath clouds
Grandpa’s mud caked boots
Frosting of ice on an old tin roof
Sweet smells of Fall harvest
Muscles aching, mind content
Missing the farm
Memories don’t rust nor dry rot
Time has it’s way
Hit the hay
leaning
on
another’s arms
hoping
for
more time
raising, once;
horses and cows
snorted and
jostled, once;
Hay was baled and
lifted, once;
I lay on the floor
to fix the oil
leak on the
John Deere, once;
the we regret to
inform you
telegram came to
me there, once;
I lay dying while
they stored my
coffin there, once.
to let through only the pure
light, the oldness and pain strained
away by sieve of wood
still standing
pieces of the past,
days when all was prosperous
and we filled the air with laughter.
Leaning,
Waiting and weathered,
this beaten brown
chicken wired life
This Broken down
Body of
boards
Planks, subject to
The elements’
decay.
But
beautiful
rest.
sun-bleached
beauty
tells story
of
my heart
sated with
life
holding in
memories
laughing in
the wind
hold up
this old skirt
one last
time
and twirl
in grasses
swaying at
my hem
i am
ready
to die
now.
lives unseen
sheltering
still
shedding skin
tunneling
scuffling
fluffing feathers
turning
to sun
and moon
murmuring
softly
burrowing
beneath
each other
and earth,
crumbled leaves,
scattered remains,
remnants
transfigured
another life
sheltering
still
woven together
grass
feather
paper
thread
and fur
tucked
between
mud clinging
heart singing
beneath eaves
helplessly
open mouths
and eyes
not yet
seeing
wait
lean
slope
skew
to the pitch of a truth I tell.
against the wind
I did not quake
nor did I bend
is drawing near
I face it now
seeing no fear.
my boots must contain the life
that passed through their stock.
This space plows my faith
and memory into neat rows
waiting for someone to sow.
splayed
tilted inward
against the eyes that see
mentally
graying aspects
wrestle the air between
to gasp
grasp the senses
now!
oh, the power of wind
once settled in
will scatter
this debris
Jim Schmotzer, Kelly Langner Sauer, Erin, Val, Lorrie, Kathleen Overby, Maureen, Russell Holloway, Nitewrit, Krist Fornshell, Susan, Glynn, Monica, Linda, Bradley, Laura, Melo, A. Jay Adler, Fishing Guy, Marcus Goodyear and nAncY.
i hope you enjoy it.










