Where commission boundaries
Cut through the outlived past
And sons of ancient lineages
Signed their names in green at last.
Where post and wire stitch through
Lost rolling hills and meadows
And harvests of rocks match
Everything else that grows.
Safe above the lake’s sodden shore
Along the rough grey graveled road,
The pampered small pasture spread,
Its heavy yield so carefully mowed.
The father steps proudly forward
Before his own familiar audience
And with practiced kicks and steps
He dances as layers of hay advance.
Soon a stack rises from the grass,
Like some nature goddess grown
And with rake in hands he grooms
Gold tresses with wild-flowers sown.
Loose wisps of hay fly in the air
As the wind begins to swirl and rise
But with no ropes he has a chance,
To show off his next surprise.
He loops a shock of hay over one tooth,
Behind his back he holds his partner
And deftly turns and swirls his rake,
In an expert step-less rural tango.
The son keeps feeding on the strands,
Trying not to heed the thistles palm counted,
As they spin their growing rope of gold,
To fasten the stack the field has sprouted.
So on it repeated, hour after hour,
A father and his family saving hay,
As the sun slipped onward to the sea,
Fed on sandwiches and cups of tae.
Less and less I recall that performance,
Though I was a member of the cast.
It seems now just like a re-enactment,
Even then it was a scene from the past.
Fergus Carty
Daily Quote: And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything. ~William Shakespeare
Linguist Corner-FRENCH: bavarder / to chat / Part of speech: expression
Example:
French: Je suis heureuse que nous ayons pris le temps de bavarder un peu.
English: I'm glad that we took the time to chat a little.
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