The narrative arc
of the story
of this land
gets told
in transaction -
the Abstract of title
of people who've
purchased pieces
of this property
over the years -
we read it together, tonight,
you and I, tracing moments
of prosperity and poverty,
of long leases and quick sells,
as the land sleeps its way
through another generation,
patient, as always, but
rarely forgiving
inspired by NWP Write Across America, Iowa
https://uploads.knightlab.com/storymapjs/a7f2f51146e2d07fdcce3d0d55c43485/write-across-america-iowa/index.html
A flutter finds us
walking through a shifting crowd
of sparrows, swerving
Tonight's gone hazy;
In the fog, Summer meets Fall
and rests for a spell
Autumn dusk arrives
in a cloak of near darkness,
buttoned up beneath
Hide with me, inside
the wide deciduous tree,
beneath Willow leaves
Last night's rainstorm drops
from leaf to ground this morning -
respite for flowers
for Algot
Bundle yourself up
on this chilly summer night,
with Autumn coming
Of links gone rogue
— Wendy T.
Some things fall
silent, quiet, as
they splinter apart
Our maps no longer
function as they
once did,
some lines now
barely navigable,
from here to nowhere
We orientate ourselves
to each other, then,
lights in a constellation
— from a comment thread via https://dogtrax.edublogs.org/2024/09/05/archiving-the-netnarr-alchemy-lab/
Little brittle bones -
Autumn's stone fingers
dissolving into dust:
Veins, dry from frigid nights;
Stems, jagged as a knife;
Skin, translucent in the light
Next year's leaves
believe, in faith, through
and through
how dirt caresses seeds
as Ancients join the new
Come, hover, over
the young girl's outstretched fingers;
Dragonfly, linger