........The Poetry Of.
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Wayne Noone ....................
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For a While
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For a while it was that patch of woods ....................
on Confederate Avenue near ....................
the Virginia Memorial, leaning ....................
against an oak, taking a pee ....................
long summer ago, ....................
Bobby Lee casting a verdigris ....................
eye in my direction. ....................
Then it was the Trough Rock ....................
over by Devil's Den, with the green ....................
moss and rusted iron horse hooks ....................
hidden lest you looked. ....................
Lately its been the big white ....................
public library on Baltimore ....................
Street, on the sidewalk, walking past ....................
in the cold fall rain. ....................
But in this dream it was ....................
the Timbers Farm. ....................
A place obscure, moving across the field, ....................
never in the same place twice, ....................
foundation like a bombed out basement, ....................
busted stone steps and ....................
the ghost of John Timbers ....................
smoking in the background. ....................
Down came Tom Byrd, old ....................
priest I loved. Had to help him ....................
down the stairs, his knees still ....................
fucked with arthritis, and his cane. ....................
Led him to a stone chair where he sat ....................
and heard my confession. ....................
When I was done we just waited ....................
for a while. ....................
Then he spoke: did you love anyone? ....................
I said I did. Then ....................
I asked him how it was, being dead. ....................
Cold. Cold, he said. ....................
After a while he told me: ....................
It's not real. None of it. ....................
It's not real until the saying. ....................
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On The Road
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On the surface ....................
this is for those who don't understand ....................
how we can go to the same place ....................
year after year, ....................
a way to roll it all up ....................
into a little ball ....................
and toss it at you, ....................
but really it's because I know ....................
these trips are coming to an end ....................
like everything else ....................
so this is more than anything ....................
an expression ....................
of gratitude. ....................
About this time, about a week before, ....................
I'll start looking at the TV ....................
for some initial projections ....................
on the weather. ....................
It's good when it's cool and rainy, ....................
with the mist and the damp ....................
among the leaves of early fall, ....................
but it's best when it's crisp and dry. ....................
I'll pack next Saturday, but I'll be ....................
laying out things throughout the week, ....................
books I want to bring, maps, ....................
a favorite sweatshirt. ....................
Kay'll wait till the last minute, till Sunday ....................
of the trip, so I always remind her ....................
did she bring the coffee? ....................
We always stop at Dietz's before we leave, ....................
crowded with the late breakfast crowd ....................
from First Methodist across the street. ....................
Bacon and eggs; Kay'll get a little juice. ....................
Then we're on the road - PA Turnpike ....................
at Monroeville to the Blue Mountain Exit, ....................
between the Army Depot and the Holiness Camp ....................
an occasional Amish buggy, ....................
make a right at Black Gap Road, at the Sandpile, ....................
which is Route 30 East, and ....................
we're almost there. Now Kay'll open it up ....................
if the traffic lets her, and we ....................
fly past Miss Lindsay's Adult Toys, ....................
Manor of Masque, ....................
the Land of Little Horses, ....................
but its not till we cross the railroad cuts ....................
and Willoughby Run, see the Now Entering ....................
Gettysburg National ....................
Military Park sign with the Peace ....................
Light Memorial, lit first by Roosevelt, ....................
burning on the hill that we know ....................
we are here. ....................
Check in at Larson's, ....................
where Robt. E. Lee stayed, ....................
and unpack. ....................
Just so you know: ....................
We don't do this for something different, ....................
but it's never the same - ....................
this year I read about a back way ....................
up Big Round Top ....................
and we'll try that, ....................
though Kay'll probably be cursing me ....................
between breaths during the climb, ....................
and a fellow named Jorgensen has ....................
a new tour of the Wheatfield out - ....................
28 stops - I'm sure we know them all ....................
but there's always something new to learn ....................
and something new to remember, ....................
and Kay'll pick up a book or two at ....................
the Visitor's Center or ....................
Greystone's that'll lead to something else. ....................
Oh, and I forgot to tell you, ....................
we sent away for a book, a tour ....................
of the field hospitals around the field, ....................
seventeen Union, eighteen Confederate ....................
sites, so the trip'll be a busy one ....................
and you know we really have to get it all in, ....................
cause for wayfarers like us, ....................
walking the field hand in hand ....................
these years, there's just never ....................
enough time. ....................
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Poem for Karen in July
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Here's my fantasy: ....................
you, loathing the heat ....................
like you do, ....................
holed up at Larson's in ....................
icy splendor, reading, ....................
writing poems, sleeping ....................
throughout the day, ....................
while I roam the field and ....................
sweat through the Ranger Walks, ....................
returning to shower at dusk ....................
and to gather you up ....................
for feasts and ....................
late night explorations, ....................
you emerging ....................
lemur-like, ....................
blinking your great brown eyes. ....................
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