Thursday, May 25, 2023

The Wonder Will Be

 

The Wonder Will Be

for a friend, on his birthday


 There were how many days

                                                 before I stopped

looking past the boy and  just stared until

he lifted his head

                                 straight into me

                                                            and he

dropped his hand from the fence

and stood still

                           telling me he would stay

if just a nod  or a second glance

                                                       allowed

him passage

 

                            Come here

you    come here

                                can you cook

The smile that crept from his eyes

past his mouth

                             and into his chest

was all the answer

                                  I will

ever need

Here   yes  here

                             we need these greens

to be

            picked  and cleaned   and cleaned

and cleaned

                        no grit

none   nowhere    and not

none on you

                        neither

 

The smile again

                               Well    I thought

hadn’t been none for some years

somebody is always hungry around

here  and I always got the fixins’

 

The wonder will be

how long he will stay

                                        and

his steady hand

                               bowed head

and the hum   he’s sending down

past his hands

                            says

I need to make room

again

            at last

                           and finally

 

                                          -- 2020




1 comment:

  1. Very evocative imagery, Joseph. I picture the scene of an older man in his garden, he's got the ingredients, but you offer your kitchen to transform the yield of the soil into food. Then I see an exchange between you and Creator and then I see younger you, speaking to older and wiser you, as you reflect on the hum you have sent down into the earth. You indeed leave behind a richer soil that you have tilled. Thank you as always.

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