W O O D C U T T E R
Y O K E L
Tell it slant
EMILY DICKINSON
Peavey
A good tool
Rarely used
But when used
Can single-handedly
Roll away the world
Manual
Three days into Spring smells more like winter
Watch out, wind low in the woods, no raccoon
When snow falls wet and heavy
You spend two days clearing blowdowns
Birch snapped halfway up, hornbeam might lean
Young straight ashes weak at the tops, cherry splinters
Over like a figure never wanting to die
Chain saw bar greased sizzles
Wham sound through the head
Woodchips down the high boots
Poplar sprouted buds softer than the deer hair
Ringing my poncho hood
Hike
The hike to the village some
Time ago was about two miles
For me one way and often in
Mud or old snow which was
When I did the chain saw work
For people or sometimes built
A stone wall — I’d need my back
Pack for the saw work to haul
Along the fuel jugs, wedges
And in my other hand take an
Axe — the stonework called for
Carrying next to nothing
Planet
Trees down everywhere —
So we cleared the trail
And put the world back into order
Bob Arnold
Yokel
Longhouse
2011
