---

 

This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN# / ISBN# issue/book “Going Off-Grid” Down in the Dirt, v169 (the Mar. 2020 Issue) Order the paperback book:

Order this writing that appears in the one-of-a-kind anthology Foundations the Down in the Dirt Feb.-April 2020 issues collection book		get the 322 page Feb.-April 2020 Down in the Dirt 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

Order this writing in the book inside the box the 2020 poetry & art collection anthology		get the 262 page poetry & artwork & photography collection anthology as a 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

Fairview Farmhouse

Bonnie Stanard

Outside and soaking wet, the winter fields lie dormant,
cotton already gone. In the far-off kitchen,
the coffee’s not in the pot. The fire’s not started
in the stove. The wood’s stacked on the porch
and getting damp as the wind blows.

The quilt on the bed’s curled up and wrapped,
its patches of flannel and muslin a testament
to Grandma’s scraps, collected like rain water
and sewn together on cloudy days in fallow months.

Rain pelts the tin roof, and the rooms inside echo
the extra breath in the lungs of the clouds.
Wet switches lash the leaky windows
behind curtains with sun bleached pleats.

A cold sparrow sleeps in the chinkapin,
and if daybreak didn’t seem so gray,
the grits would already be cooking.

 

(Originally published in Phi Kappa Phi Forum, Winter/Spring 2005)

Copyright of written pieces remain with the author, who has allowed it to be shown through Scars Publications and Design.Web site © Scars Publications and Design. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission from the author.

Problems with this page? Then deal with it...