Wind Chimes
Virginia Salter

I have two lovely wind chimes
out on the patio
they’ve been doin’ the samba
more hours than I can know

a hangin’ from the gazebo
a portable one, at best
it goes a dancin’ in the wind
sometimes it’s just a pest

my neighbor tied it down real well
about a year ago
with heavy cord, the nylon kind,
it does a right good show

in times past, it would waltz the lawn
a headin’ for the fence
an’ my neighbor’d come a runnin’
I’m sure in self defense

with his lovely work, his helping hand,
above, beyond the call
I now can trust the thing to stay
right by my northern wall

otherwise I’d not trust
to hang my chimes on there
‘cuz they’d likely go a flyin’
with it into the air

yet, since it stays, they dance and sing
a musical, lyrical song
and when I try to take a nap
they vocalize out strong

the moral of the story
is some where in my head
where the echoing, ‘reverbering’
is leaving pain instead

© June 14,  2000