countrysidepoem #1
joy comes unexpected today with friends I found myself burning a prairie already bush-hogged the stalks lying broken to prevent fire leaping to tree height fanned by a fitful wind the flames were spectacle enough in their staggered advance across the field behind them a scorched surface a pancake griddle with smoking hummocks afterwards tea and talk and brownies then alone I followed a stream and animal routes through a woods small paws crossed the ravine on a bridge of logs though underneath was ice I followed the trail to an earthen opening beneath a rotting trunk later saw a fat and furry creature hurrying to the underground den in the philippines one hundred children are underneath one hundred feet of mud slid down from a tree-scalped hill but here in central illinois it is a sweet afternoon I forget for a while and rejoice in our washed sky, our pleasant plains
© Jacqueline Jackson 2006
This article appears in Feb 23 – Mar 1, 2006.
