jagorchevina

jagorchevina bunched pale yellow close
to mountain ground or violets' purple
shimmer in snow-melt fogged fields

white or yellow daffodils in bloom
white painted fruit tree trunks
like a grafeyard of rough crosses

small hillside snail farms with
fribbles of black netting they climb
get harvested from (or my leg pulled)

light rain showers today scattered
sometimes the road is wet other
time only enough to just notice

hayrick usually has a chopped
tree trunk concealed in its centre
branches to make form conical

planting bent over people
scattered across tilled fields
drill seeds or insert seedlings

smoking might be national health
plan overriding vehicle exhaust
concerns with less old age care

driver smokes lucky
strikes and i don't
want one to happen

visiting professors silent since
pale liven along reka drina
as the new border draws near

bilingual sign states this border
crossing is under video surveillance
—i am foreigner on both sides

© Joe Blades 2006

T: McGreggor
loc: Beograd
temp: 14 C
sound: office chatter