Harrowing

by Cliff Lake

Inconsiderate gardener,
Granted open proviso,
Writ in time
And translated to comfort,
What trepidation
Is your greatest pride?

Ruin and ruin,
The rising tide
Brings the fish closer,
But ruins the view
Of the march
Of the inevitable hotel.

Forgotten fealty,
Mother nourishes yet,
Though she be beaten,
Bound or broken,
Bent and burnt…
Our barbarous brotherhood.

We stretch too sharp a hand,
And too much is cut.
We tread too heavy the boot,
Leaving but dust in our track.
Gone the gentle seedsman,
Victim of urban cowboy macho disease.

Deviated caretaker,
Conscripted and contained,
Out of time,
Out of options,
What dismay
Pays you best?

Cliff Lake 11/14/2023
Copyright © Clifford Lake 2023