Song for the Bulldozer

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