06 September 2013

Out In Front

Out in front
there's a rickety porch,
rough hewn timbers with tree bark
still clinging to their fibrous skeletons.
Rocking chairs and a stump table;
shavings from a whittled branch
strewn about the weathered floor boards.

Out in front
there's a tree; tall and stately,
a monument to the longevity apparent
since it was planted, a feeble sapling 
much like himself - thin, gangly and weak.
It speaks of perseverance and dedication -
fulfilling its station to mark time and grow.

Out in front
near the tree, there's a lake...
a pond, really. Reeds and lily pads
defining its edge. Sounds of crickets and croaks
of bullfrogs, cicada whines reverberate in the late
afternoon. Soon their sounds will be silenced
as the seasonal change lumbers into the valley.

Out in front
is a tire dangling, a rope looped over a branch 
of the stately tree. Dirt dug out, a furrow where feet
dragging and kicking kept sticking the ground
with a new found ferocity. Gaining in height and velocity,
the children take turns launching, airborne to land
in a heap with a thud; sometimes blood appears, the poor dears.

Out in front
a wagon waits; flatbed secured, a hitch holding tightly.
On a brightly hued morning, and without much in the way
of a warning, grandfather had passed. The town folk amassed
in respect; paying forward what had come around on occasion.
Sadly in procession, he was carried from the house - a finality.
Placed upon the caisson, a solemn silence ensued. 

Out in front
the porch remained; rockers swaying in the stiffness of a late breeze.
Birds nested in the tree and the pond continued with activity
and the sounds of life. No one sat on the pendulous tire as it
swung hypnotic. The front door was ajar, but it was in exit,
not as an invitation to enter. Out in back the fields had grown
unruly and left to sit fallow. But, out in front a good fellow has gone.

©JPW 2013

Poetic Asides by Robert Lee Brewer - Prompt # 235 - "Front" poem

Poets United - Poetry Pantry #166

dVerse Poets Pub - OLN #113

6 comments:

  1. quite a stirring piece...i like how you let this develop...describing the house and the life a bit then taking us into the story of the death...quite sobering toward the end...

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    1. Thank you, Brian. I appreciate your discerning eye!

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    2. ha. thank you sir...and good to have you back at OLN...hope you have a wonderful evening...

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  2. Will do! So many sites... so little time... :D

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  3. The repetition in this is magic, and rather sad that the good fellow is gone. Loved it.

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  4. The repetition of your opening line pulls this piece together nicely. Very descriptive and well written. Your fourth stanza about the tire swing could be right out of my childhood. Thanks for sharing.

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