back of the pharmacy
talk of the miners here the farmers
ex-school teachers telephone linemen
the road grader the druggist
kicking it around on a snow driven morning
december complaints old as the first
pain anyone thought about in a cave
they worry about one another
and there is survival in this
beyond the need for survival
something caught in their eyes
fixed beyond the caves mouth
they are waiting for someone
who should be coming and is not
© John Knoepfle 2003
