G O ~ A L O N G
Y O K E L
Against the charitable gesture
there is no defence
SAMUEL BECKETT
Milking
Morning sunlight offers
Long shadows, a place of coolness
Hand size grape leaves cling to fence rails
A drop of warm light on the tips
Birds in the woods soon fly into the pasture
Sing and disappear all day
The sun lifts off the metal silo roof
Shatters into the pond
Between the barn and house
An aisle of light
for Bill & Mary
Pals
I bought old
Tools from a
Friend since
We used the tools
Together on jobs
For years and
With him gone
I plan to work
Like we always
Have together
The Moral
You know an era
is over with the
morning you
see the local
outlaw junkyard
flatbed wrecker
with its owner’s
company name
barely scratched
onto the side doors
going by aboard
a real-deal junk-
yard flatbed hauler
on its way to town
to be sold as scrap
______________
Bob Arnold
Yokel
Longhouse
2011
