—1-21-17
A half-foot of fresh snow shows fresh tracks
crisscrossing our little clearing in the woods.
The three does we’ve been getting to know,
already half-way through their freshman year,
have plowed a white furrow looking for
the feed we’re guilty of sowing for them.
We’ve heard all the arguments. But with the
Congress of clueless children back in from recess,
fretting and fussing within their little uniforms,
a-Twitter about the new bully on the playground,
we’re elated to awaken to our own snow day
and to see the neighbors have paid a visit.
It’s only a break from that other nagging reality,
for we know it won’t last, that the road crews
have been out all night and that this stint likely
won’t go beyond a mid-morning delay. But
as their trails fade, I’m imagining roaming with
those rural kids, lucky to stay home all afternoon.
~ D. R. James
first published in The 3288 Review, 3:1
D.R. James—born in Ohio, raised in Illinois, grad-schooled in Iowa, and now in his 34th year teaching writing, literature, and peacemaking at the Midwestern college he attended in the 70’s—lives in the woods outside Saugatuck, Michigan. His latest of seven collections is If god were gentle (Dos Madres).
James Benger is the author of two fiction ebooks, and three chapbooks, one full-length, and coauthor of three split books of poetry. He is on the Board of Directors of The Writers Place and the Riverfront Readings Committee, and is the founder of the 365 Poems In 365 Days online workshop, and is Editor In Chief of the subsequent anthology series. He lives in Kansas City with his wife and children.
The Coop: A Poetry Cooperative 