What I Found on the Detour
That there are other ways to go —
That the Zimmermans sold their cows
And now there is a hillside of sheep
That the fellow who saws and sells firewood
That his work horses look healthy
That there are other towns
One growing & selling the best tasting corn of the summer
That there are small town libraries
That there are small town post offices
That there are people in both ready to help
That I feel robust seeing and knowing this
That everyone, everyone! pulled off to the side
Of our narrow river road and let others come first
That only one fool barked his car horn because
He won't talk, but he was the only one
That the river is shallower south
Than it is in the north
That there are footbridges with cameras
God help us
That engineers describe a bridge plan 600 feet long out in
Splendid nowhere, and drop it like a lead weight
That others actually propose moving the covered bridge
That was certainly built where it is for a reason
That it has earned and survived a 100 year flood to
Stay where it is, more than anything we know
That a state pond has a morning mist
That floats our eyes
That a working farm, open to the wind, has
The only light shining when I pass at 5AM
That a house I also pass, used to be a slaughter-
House I knew, and what a legacy
That at a corner store my wife met a friend for the first time
They started to shake hands, which fell into a big hug
That passing an abandoned sawmill, quiet as a ghost town
A fisher cat could be seen scrambling where logs were yanked
That the day the Green River Covered Bridge re-opened
Reggie from Colrain stopped, both of us driving trucks five
Miles south of the bridge, and pointed to a bald eagle stone
Still in a tree along the river — he wanted to take a photograph —
And instead the eagle flew
~ Bob Arnold
