FORTRESS AGAINST THE COLD

Posted on March 24, 2020 by | 8 Comments

 

 

There is a knack to stacking wood
and wrapping packages in brown paper
you learn with time.

A metal pail for White King D
saved for picking blackberries
beyond the clothes line.

A drawer-full of safety pins,
balls of string with rubber bands
and paper clips held us together

in emergencies. She survived
the Spanish Flu of 1918
birthing my father, youngest daughter

of an Edinburgh schoolmaster,
arrived in Fresno to teach the Indians
English—and me the poetry of Keats.

 

This entry was posted in Photographs, Poems 2020 and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

8 responses to “FORTRESS AGAINST THE COLD”

  1. dawilkinson@mac.com | March 24, 2020 at 5:53 am | Reply

    Nice, John.

    I’ve attached a sonnet I wrote last week.

    Stay safe!

    Andy Wilkins

    Liked by 2 people

  2. trishomalley | March 24, 2020 at 6:48 am | Reply

    yep, sure remembering the grandmothers up here. be well you two. it is raining this morning.

    Liked by 2 people

  3. Evelynne (Watanabe) Matsumoto | March 24, 2020 at 7:54 am | Reply

    So beautiful, thank you again and again and again—

    Liked by 2 people

  4. Denise W | March 24, 2020 at 9:04 am | Reply

    John,
    Beautiful!
    Denise

    Liked by 1 person

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