| | William Faulkner,
I used your bathroom today.
From what I can gather about your personal life,
I have a feeling you would not have liked this.
But I did it anyways.
William Faulkner,
I stared at the grape vines you planted in your pasture,
and I wondered what you wondered
when you took off your gloves and
sat in the shade with a handkerchief to your head.
I wondered this as I took a grape and popped it in my teeth.
From what I can gather -
but I did it anyways.
William Faulkner,
I roamed the edge of your pasture
and listened to the cicada fly in Bailey's woods
while the sun rose to an awful height that afternoon.
I wondered who Bailey was and
why it was his woods, not yours.
I imagine the woods whispered to you most afternoons,
the way they were to me,
calling me into every thicket cave in hopes of discovering
some long lost fort or a post-Victorian tree carving.
I entered the trail and knew I would find nothing,
but I did it anyways.
William Faulkner,
I demand to know your mind;
the catalogs of plot you drew while passing your stable
and smelling the same sweet mix
of grass, mulch and horses that I smelled.
I know you thought of the creator,
or at least the futility of dinner conversation -
maybe even the relentless march of time
and how many evenings you spent
washing off your hands in the oat barn.
I knew it was pointless to guess what you thought,
but I did it anyways.
William Faulkner,
I must confess that your patio was not much of a patio.
Maybe this is the grounds keeper's fault.
Your rose hedges were nice, as were the concentric circles,
and I could understand why you built the East Wall.
But I did not understand why you never smiled,
especially living at a place like this.
Lida said she only saw "amusement" at most.
Stoicism is more of a choice than a reality, I tend to think,
and as I thought this -
I fell into a divit and twisted my ankle in your garden.
Yes, I tried not to admit to the pain.
But I did it anyways.
|
| | Posted 8/8/2008 4:40 PM - 38 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
- recommend
  - recs0
- share
- email
 - sent0
|
