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Open Poetry #46
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7 South and Ash (From Boston Mountain Series)
| Open Poetry #46 |
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7 South and Ash (From Boston Mountain Series) |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
I’d taken 7 south out of Harrison Figured to pick up 16 and head back east Now that the trailer was empty And I was in need of windshield time As I sorted out how it came to be Between Beth and me those years ago I’d read her notes again Then pursued the pages of the old leather Seeing what I already knew was there Of how it felt to love someone you couldn’t have Except as a passing word or two and some touch That might be shared when with curtains pulled The want was written with fingertips Along the lines age and traveling so many roads Had left behind I didn’t get far The old truck and I decided to stop along the Buffalo The truck to cool off while I begged water From a wizened old fellow who ran a store That looked more closed than opened Even with a couple of cars sitting outside Old man introduced himself as Ted But said most people called him Ash seeing as how He has once been a logger and back about ‘69 He’d helped fight the wildfire that burned for weeks And took more than twelve thousand acres as well as his shack Nothing more than ashes to blow about He scrounged up a couple of gallon milk jugs and filled them up Then invited me to sit on the porch with him and have a cup of joe Since I wouldn’t be able to open the radiator cap until The old truck had cooled for an hour or two “No need to rush” he said slow We sipped the black from chipped cups And he spun tales about the flood That reached the bottom of the 7 bridge And how they had found tin from the old homesteads Bent crazy like around the tops of trees Then how there were some things and people They never found “You got a woman?” he asked as the conversation about weather, cows, floods, and fires had run its course and left a void to fill Before I could answer He rattled a gravel on tin laugh and answered his own question “Not that you’re with.” I just grinned and took a drink filtering the grounds with my teeth Then giving up and swallowed them as he reached over with the pot To fill my cup again “Her name is Beth” I said along with a nod of thanks and we both sat quiet watching an old grey worry an acorn as it sat on the limb of a white oak between the road and where we were “Well,” he began after the grey had twitched its tail and scurried up the trunk out of sight “You keep on dreaming son” “you never know when the river will flood and bring down to where you are those things You never thought you’d see” He ambled inside and I heard the slicer turn on And in a few he came out with a bundle of wax paper That he handed to me and grinned “For the road” he said adding “Your old truck ought to be cooled down some now” I shook his hand then picked up the gallon jugs And headed back to the truck Wondering if the rain would indeed bring a flood That might bring to me what I thought I’d never have Of her |
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| © Copyright 2010 Cpat Hair - All Rights Reserved | |||
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s1nfully_1nn0c3nt Senior Member
since 2003-10-26
Posts 1105Watertown, NY |
This is a wonderful story, I can just picture two men sitting on the porch sipping coffee and chatting. Enjoyed. -Trina. |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
Thanks Ms Trina... part of a much longer set of storied poems written with the intent of telling a larger story of sorts. Glad you could wade through it and enjoy. |
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Dark Stranger Member Patricius
since 2001-03-19
Posts 13631West Coast |
so the slicer got part of a slow grey? kewl stuff capt..I have leaned a few kickstands for the same kind of conversation and even the same bad coffee.. |
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Amaryllis Senior Member
since 2010-05-20
Posts 1306Mi now |
Wonderful slice, Cpat... smokey and slow, and full of patient wisdom. Thanks for sharing these with us...  Best~ Amaryllis |
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BluesSerenade Member Patricius
since 2001-10-23
Posts 10549By the Seaside |
You should write a novel, you pay such close attention to every detail and take your readers down a long and winding road that seems so familiar and just as picturesque as I remember. You capture so much and captivate me with your story telling. Just fabulous, truly. |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
Brother Dark... have to use a slicer set pretty thin on them old greys.. they can be tough to chew. pleased you found something in the ramble you could relate to... |
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Eusta B. Mae Senior Member
since 2010-05-03
Posts 903 |
So this is just a teaser? Oh Man! Thanks alot...this was a great story..I could almost smell the coffee. ebm |
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ethome Member Patricius
since 2000-05-14
Posts 11858New Brunswick Canada |
Nice ramble. Got the lifetime story mellows with it and as always the love reflections. Some old folks got their inner conscious routines down to a science don't they? Somehow you just don't even want to argue with them ever....It's just too cool! Loved it! Eric |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
Ms Amaryllis pleased you dropped in... the old fellow probably still has the same bad coffee and would spin a better yarn than me. If you get over that way drop in, I am sure he'd enjoy your company |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
Ms Blues... as always I am honored to see your words left on my scribbles... and pleased I could captivate any part of you with my words thank you |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
Ms EBM.. part of the Boston Mountain series, the beginning goes back to Iambe, morphs into a series about Lacey, and takes up again when I returned to the blue pages.. the earlier ones are around, so not a teaser as much as just another in a series of rambles thanks for you eyes and the nice words ma'am |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
Eric, thanks m'friend... rambles are something I enjoy, often at the expense of the reader's patience I fear..lol.. appreciate you dropping in.... |
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JerryPat Senior Member
since 2010-10-30
Posts 1991Louisiana/America |
Great prose here, Cpat Hair. I was involved with the two men's conversation from the get-go and the more I read the deeper I was there. It doesn't take a road warrior to understand the poem, but it does help, I'd say. I have a truckers poem I guess I'll share with the board before I call it a day. Good stuff. . . . and the Raven said, %!~#&(&#!$! |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
As a fellow who knows those small towns, the old man and his homespun advice, the stores looking more closed than open and the bad coffee....I can relate and savor the flavor of the piece. Very nice work, sir... |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
JP... thanks for the read and your kind words. they are appreciated |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
Mr 'Deer.. always a pleasure to find your words left on some scribble of mine. glad there was something in this you could relate to |
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