epigraph
"rest lightly on him O earthfor he has loved you well"
-inscription on alden nowlan's tombstone
in little towns
the children run loose
safe in the arms
of everyone they meet
...
we used to play cowboys and indians
in the lilac bushes that covered the front lawn
of the biggest house in the village
there were two solid acres
of purple and green
miles of trail and horizon
it was summer and it painted us brown
as we ran through the bushes in our shorts
and i don't remember ever pretending to die
just the running through the smell that knew no end
... in the winter we skated on the pond
and the water ran out from beneath us
through the mill and past our slaughterhouse
where season knew no sympathy and the pigs squealed
we were at home no matter where we went
we knew the fields like living rooms
and the cemetery on the hill beside the church
was full of our history and it did not frighten us
... in spring the trees were new camouflage
and school a test in concentration
we played baseball and suffered through spelling
while we waited for the earth to be reborn
... fall came whether we wanted it or not
and we made the best of the leaves while they lasted
they were forts or castles or palaces or dreams
and we walked in them like they were clouds
and when the skies turned dark
and it was time for home
there were always stars to light the way
each one resting lightly
Copyright© michael dennis/Pulp Press Book Publishers 1988