Transparent Words - Poetry |
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Gary Blankenship
Song of Myself #17 - Gate-Keeper
Song of Myself #17 – Gate-Keeper
17. the gate-keeper marks who pass
I’ve seen them all go by from the mighty to the lowly
Grandmother with her last living kin as they struggle to survive the Trail of Tears
lone trapper lost in a blizzard
runaway following the Ladle north and a procession of chained property headed to rice marshes and yellow fever
bride’s impatient walk down the aisle and mother’s to her first job left for a trophy wife
the 54th Massachusetts proudly lead by Colonel Robert Shaw
Forrester’s hooded riders
Lincoln’s last train draped in black Kennedy’s after
child escorted to the bus for the first day school and defeated father’s shuffle toward the soup kitchen
the Grand Army on the march and the Bonus Army routed by MacArthur
I’ve seen them all pass but few stop and plead entry the gates tarnished for eons hinges rusty plating nearly gone
Song of myself #18 - Teamster
18. The young fellow drives the express-wagon
a weight of Beecher’s Bibles hid under mercantile merchandise
a load of barbed wire destined for a range war
calico for the housewife gingham for the schoolmarm taffeta for Storyville
I’m eager to deliver each consignment – the carpenter’s daughter will not wait for me the spinning-girl will accept another the farmer will not be on the road long
the graybeard who ogled me this morning will be impatient to tell me that he loves me
before his pen dries
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Pg09