Go !
On the window —
raindrop chasing
What The Rain Brings
The reason I mention rain
And the junkyard up river is
That many times in the past
When the spring rain came
And the river went high
It would flow like nobody’s
Business straight through the
Old barn on the junkyard
Property and think nothing
Of picking up and sailing away
Any scrap metal part or bumper
And refrigerator door and I
Could be a mile down river
And seeing nothing much
Until I saw all this flow past
Specifics
To be specific
this is what the mother
of the young men who had the camp-
site on our land did —
she refused to assist us to move her family off our property
and back onto her own land, and she has plenty
she threw her garbage onto our land
when the law was called in to help us with the matter
she lied between her teeth
and when the law left and they set up
a no trespassing ordinance against her to
stay off our land, she went onto our land
in clear defiance and dared us to do something
about it
so we did —
we called the law back
they came
clamped her down with more headaches
what was learned?
she lies
Know What You Do
What does it all mean?
it means times have changed
and we’re supposed to change with it
take the quiet, the river, the old
road, animal lore, secret pathways
respect for stick, leaf and silence
and throw it all away
do as we please
barge where we barge
litter as we like
you don’t know what sort of
agreement and law and universe
you are asking to destroy when
you do this
—————————
Bob Arnold
Heaven Lake
Longhouse 2018