Monday, December 16, 2019

YOKEL ( 10 ) ~








S O N   O F
Y O K E L


It was the opportunity to be ignorant
that I improved


HENRY DAVID THOREAU








Hot Work Day







My young son

points over the

pasture gate high

off into the woods

edge shade and says,

Let’s walk up to

there — can we?




Of course we can

                                   for Carson





Staring At the Engine






Hood up

Greased hands of both natives

Wool caps pulled over the ears

Splashes of oil on snow and scrap metal

Grimy tools in a shiny toolbox

Baby cries from the trailer






Driving






Once upon a time all of us drove

Pieces of junk — VWs, old trucks, 

Screwed back together wagons —

And then there was the day the

Newcomers came and better vehicles

Were always around, driven the fastest —

But the newcomers had a funny 

Way of breaking themselves in —

First they were courteous and only

After awhile did their speed pick up

And about the same time the natives

Began to show forth with new sports

Vehicles all sponsored by a bank

Loan that almost always went broke

And soon enough they were back in

Pieces of junk so that we can always

Tell the difference between who

Is who






In Valley





One day my son

and I went to watch

a helicopter lift out

hardwood logs from

a steep shady woodlot

no skidder dared to reach





the helicopter made its

hitch and drop every

three minutes, it was

something to see, as





the long cable swept

the tree tops with an

oak log a few of us

stood far below on

an old farm bridge

greatly diminished



______________
Bob Arnold
Yokel
Longhouse
2011