Linking with the Sunday Muse for Muse # 127
Hosted this week by the truly amazing poet Chrissa.
I was raised in the country
Where the only steel in twenty miles was
the tractor
the plow
and some hearts
but the truest of cutting
was never in the field
so my love became a cattle guard
surrounded by a barbed wire
fence
and praying for rain
turned into wings
strong country fences never stopped a crow
only the cattle and the sheep
yet even when the crow makes it to the city
it’s heart still remembers the country in which it came
and climbing barbed wire fences is always dangerous
whether you are trying to leave or trying to get home.
Carrie, I like your cattle guard, tough steel. Nice metaphor, t.he real thing, we never had one. Had to stop, open a gate, drive through, close the gate. That worked better with two, the none driver opens and guards the gate while the driver goes through. I'm being very literal here, but then Mrs. Jim fell through a board fence a few years ago and broke her hip. That called for s hip joint partial replacement.
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The simple things are the best things.
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful. The sharpness cuts through the poem and the ambivalence--home as something that has to be carefully approached.
ReplyDeleteOh my, that last line! That speaks volumes. I love it all, the animals, the metaphors, the whole shebang.
ReplyDeleteYour poem resurrected tons of memories as I spent summers helping my grandparents on their farm. I remember being a junior in high school begging to be absolved of those chores (wanted to hang with friends) and I am grateful today I kept right on working through high school. Thank you for writing this, Carrie.
ReplyDeleteOh shades of my childhood! This conjured all sorts of memories. Our barbed wire fence was electrified, and my brother loved to touch it and grab my hand to give me a jolt. Great poem!
ReplyDeleteWhat a powerful image of the barbed wire fences.
ReplyDeleteYes, that last line is so powerful! Love, love, love this poem. It brings up memories I have of being raised in Missouri farmland.
ReplyDeleteLuv the use of the barbed wire fence especially in the end caution. Makes for a Nice quote
ReplyDeleteHappy Sunday. Thanks for dropping by my sumie Sunday today
Much💓love
Beautiful and sharp, like a cold country wind and ice on the plough. Crow knows all the secrets.
ReplyDelete"and praying for rain / turned into wings" -- oh yes, that's great!
ReplyDeleteAnd home is the truest place. Wonderful, Carrie!
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