poetry: August 2003 Archives

Sodbuster's Lament

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Today there’s only silence from the West:
No word from the curséd town.
And we can’t believe that we believed this best.

We’ve heard that every ocean wave must crest
And with a heavy groan come crashing down,
But today there’s only silence from the West.

They said, “Cross the Mississippi-you’ll be blessed!
The soil is of national renown!”
Now we can’t believe that we believed this best.

Success! It was the creed that we confessed.
Well, water is a fine thing, too, until you drown.
And today there’s only silence from the West,

Yes, today we are poor and sore distressed.
As pasture-green turns into desert-brown,
We can’t believe that we believed this best.

One day those who labor will find rest
And exchange their dusty sorrows for a crown-
But today there’s only silence from the West,
And we can’t believe that we believed this best.

4.19.01

My bride brings me pineapple --
not canned, but fresh
harvested delicious
liquid yellow flesh.

My lovely hunter-gatherer –
innocent and wise –
Braves the many-aisled market
with two strong arms and two keen eyes.
Braves the bonus card bonanza
the Freon, the fluorescence,
the cynical cashiers,
and arrives –

Undaunted and triumphant,
a merchant ship with golden sails
Carrying her blue-bagged bounty
from faraway locales.

Our hidden yellow treasure,
our Ananas comosus,
awaits the knifeblade revelation
of amazing future grace.
And we will know the pleasure
of a longer, deeper taste.

My bride brings me pineapple --
not canned, but fresh
harvested delicious
liquid yellow flesh.

(upon receipt of Winn-Dixie pineapple in June)