Song for the Bulldozer
This cabin
has a date with the executioner
I go back once more
through the arbour of honeysuckle,
mock orange, wild raspberry
The air is full of
sweet blossoms and rain
an empty wheelbarrow leans
against the house, hydrangea spilling
out of wooden flower boxes
You say you will make this land
look as though no one was
ever here,
only memories: a barbecue
under a full moon
a garden encircled with
day lilies, scarlet poppies
columbine
On the porch a hammock swings
empty and I feel
the soft hollow of an
absent body
Limpet shells strung together
rattle in the wind, the flutter
of pigeon wings, the soft
wash of the sea:
Summer voices.
Perhaps you too will hear them
as you tear down walls, dismantle
rooms, a life
I like to believe anything
is possible
Edythe Anstey Hanen
November 14, 2009