|
Thieves
For 20 years I breezed in and out
this road, too narrow
to admit a crowd, too dusty,
bramble-ridden. No intruders.
Then you
moved in. Planted pansies
in a yellow wheelbarrow.
Hung flags. Painted numbers. Signs.
No Trespassing.
You put up a solar-powered gate,
as if the sun
were your accomplice.
I have to punch a key-pad
to get out. You say we’re safer
now, no one will burgle us
while we’re away.
As if any-
body really owns this land.
The worst thief
locks things in.
Nursing Home
Afterwards, I salvaged
his oversize long white T
with his last
name markered black
across the sleeve.
It was soft and linted
like hardly worn.
And I wonder
what he did there, all
those months, before
they reported he was gone.
Taylor Graham: Coal City Review editor, Brian Daldorph, calls this poet
" a meticulous wordsmith, writing often of her experiences as a rescue dog handler.
Every word of each poem is carefully considered, and yet there is fluency and grace
to her poems that sometimes seem like the mysterious language of bird tracks in the snow.
Taylor helps us to remember our links with the natural world." Graham has published four collections,
including Casualties ( Coal City Review) and Looking for Lost ( Hot Pepper Press), as well as poems
in myriad publications. She is also on the editorial board of The Acorn, a regional literary journal
focusing on the western Sierra.("Ten Poets to Watch", Writer's Digest April 2000)
Email: Taylor Graham
Return to
Table of Contents
|