day of the dead 2007by Joe Blades © 2007
too right for the passing poet
the northeastern christian college
woman teacher or student showing
ankles between long skirt and shoes
who smiled a ripe late summer smile
at faded green man this morning
three deer earlier along the trail
the one on the right side visible
two on the left in the small wedge
of trees between trail and gibson
watch convenience store old man
pick up the halloween garbage
in mountain streams above
reka drina the plastic bottles
attract sand to their open mouths
their one use for beer juice water
long past and they were discarded
plentiful as the streambed rocks
neo decorations adorn trees bushes
and fence posts this day of the dead
not halloween treats abandoned
these plastic grocery bags reused
these hand outline instruction bags
—how to pick up your dog’s shit
deer and coyotes move to the city
despite the traffic and the people
walking dogs and whooping night
deer move in to avoid the hunters
in orange brighter than any leaf
coyotes have some crow in them
a coyote who writes poems of rural
and the farm life passed through town
poems of driving before dawn to be
there before sun kissed the river
bait and her lines at the ready
—no rock and tree nature poet
rather like a caddisfly in its
built home of twigs and sand
resting on the stream bottom
or the hermit crab moved in
to its new seashell home
after its builder passed on
shirt: OAKLEY, Hfx NS, Guaranteed to blow your socks off!
loc: prejobshadowwing
temp: -3 C
sound: Bombay Dub Orchestra
