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
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
