Wealth of News

A mile of main road and
a half a mile of crossroad
separated home from school
but a shorter path lay
across the fields. Barefoot,
in overalls and shirt I trudged
home through fields and
over fences. Gossamer threads
wavered out from wires,
I squinted at the tiny spider
glued to each thread.
A pheasant ran down the corn rows
of a neighbor’s field, a rabbit
still as a statue waited for me
to pass through our meadow
beyond an abandoned meadowlark’s
nest with its woven roof as a
bull snake wound its way among
long grasses. A gopher shrilled
at me but dropped in its burrow
when I threw a stone. I felt the sky
breathe a blue breath and our
big maple grove in its shadows
seemed to stir as it watched me pass.
I climbed the wall into the orchard
to wander among the loaded trees,
Grimes Golden, Jonathan, Russets,
Roman Stern, Fameuse, Plum Cider—
how could I taste so many?
I sat on our back steps with my
cookie and glass of milk and wondered
how I could tell all my news.