Tuesday, November 17, 2015

A STILLNESS AT POP'S PLACE



Today, there is a great stillness
    at POP'S PLACE,
down in the "land of cotton,
     where I was born in..."
("Look away, look away...")

Down in sandy Dawson Co. Texas.

It stands there today...like some
   "banquet hall deserted..."

All the people who once gathered
   for fun, farm-happy times...
are gone

Except for four of five
   of the youngest. but even
they---are aging...

Alas, much of the once-splendid
   new farm from 1938...
has disappeared.


The finest rock fence is gone...
   Even the three car garage is gone...
        The elm windbreak and
the rows of elms around the house,
   are gone.
          The grape arbor is gone,
and the rose garden...

Worst thing---there is no more windmill
   with its homey gentle clang--
clangs... as if speaking of untold things
   on  warm fall afternoon
breezes...

The outbuildings remaining-- need paint...

The house itself stands lonely-like,
   but refurbished with brick...
so it will last, physically---

But its heart may be another story,
   It is like an old devoted dog,
left behind...but faithfully waiting.

There is almost an ache about the
   eighty-year-old house
as it sits there, alone, month after
   month, year after year....

A certain wistfulness hangs over
   the big empty dining room
table, with the withered flowers
   in the vase from some 
unremembered time...

Hearty, laughing times---
   Coffee, ham, sausage and
eggs, biscuits and gravy, grits
   floating in butter...

Farm suppers, when the company 
   came...grandma brought 
out the red-checked oil cloth  and
   had fried chicken, mashed
potatoes, black eye peas, corn-on-
   the-cob, fried okra, squash,
corn bread, cantaloupe, and 
watermelons...

A hand-cranked freezer of ice
   cream, right off the farm...
maybe strawberry..or peach!

Then the unforgettable holiday
   dinners...with turkey and
corn bread dressing...

But the farm house and the 
   dining room are all silent
today...the sounds of happy
   conversation, jokes, 
laughter, and fellowship
  gone...tho' maybe still
echoing through the universe
  somewhere...

The folks are  gone, all but
   three or four ----
they're now resting eternally in
   a half-dozen places.
surrounded by green grass,
   rocks, and flowers...

We open the window in the 
   always cozy front BR,
and the sheers billow out,
    as the fresh breeze blows
through the old house...

Ah, the wind senses the stillness
  of POP'S Place, today,
and THE WIND...it always seems
   wise...and knows things...
a lot of things...

And it seems to be whispering...

something.
+++++++++
BY MIL
JULY 5, 2015







No comments:

Post a Comment