Poems

Monument to Enterprise

The Enterprise rest area is accessed from eastbound I-90, mile marker 244

traveled stretch car-weary limbs

at this beautiful rest area 

below in the valley

where the cows graze

lay Enterprise

three inns, a mill, a post office,

a Masonic lodge 

in what was called Neoca

then Enterprise, now – 

one hundred years nothing

enjoy the view

eat some berries 

But dare not rename

a life named for a woman

to a life named for work

all that’s left are bathrooms,

trucks, children playing

on picnic tables, a stiff breeze,

cows grazing along the river

and the view over hills

O false promise

Enterprise 

undertaking, project,

now the undertakers claim you

your bones are gone

or moved, and cows

step over them 

No doubt you think

when you build a town

it will last one hundred years

that a town is more important

than family or love

but see your Enterprise

has fallen short

and always will

a memory blowing down the road

Seven

my daughter likes seven best 

because 7 can hide-

half a triangle, an unusual chair,

because seven is halfway

between three and ten

perhaps because her next birthday

is seven

 

I like seven too-

some call seven perfect though odd

she stands alone and unafraid in her prime

because 7 is a hand reaching out

because 7 is enough 

and one more

to share