Meadowthorpe
Today under a polyester Kentucky blue sky
it’s all long chainsaw drones, chipper yowls.
A storm tore into the streets late last night
ripped down some of the older, bigger trees.
It destroyed the pickets, split-rail and privacy
fencings that surround the mostly manicured
back yards of this simple brick mid-century
Cape Cod and ranchette-dotted wonderland.
We have moved north to the city
to be near hospitals and doctors.
In this enclave of sidewalks and parks
dogs on their leashes, we remodeled
a house that was built the same
year my wife was born. This is recovery.
19 thoughts on "Meadowthorpe"
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i can hear the birds screaming in your ear what they’ve always known..
the storm torn nights are really much too long..
good mornging!
especially love the last two stanzas
“enclave of sidewalks and parks//dogs on their leashes” gets at the self-enclosure, whereas the storm takes down the fencing. Welcome to the neighborhood!
Such an effective ending. Just what the poem needed. I liked the twining of two events, the destructive storm and the illness.
And what a lovely nest it is for Linda, our dazzling rare bird! Beautiful poem, Coleman.
Wow. The movement makes me take pause. Absolutely love the ending, too.
Dogs on their leashes — says so much. Very nice to read you again, Coleman.
The simple three word summation covering all the detail, all the ordinariness – this is recovery. No this isn’t glam and bamboozle – this is life. Love your heart brother.
Those last two stanzas say it all. Rebuilding takes many forms.
Love this poem about recovery!
Great linebreak after “privacy.”
Agree, the break speaks volumes.
I particularly like the contrast between natural chaos and the human attempts at control and order presented in the poem. I also appreciate the highlighting of the resilience of the human spirit. Thanks for sharing!
Powerful pairing of a literal storm and the recovery it demands with the storms an illness creates that also requires recovery.
“a house that was built the same
year my wife was born. This is recovery.” Beautiful!
A powerful poem where the description does all the work of meaning…
I spent a lot of time in Meadowthorpe in my younger day. You really captured it. Did you know that John Mellencamp’s lead guitarist grew up there?
I didn’t, there are so many anecdotes like that. We can’t believe we got lucky enough to find this house.
Thanks
Last two lines… sighhh…
My mom grew up in Meadowthorpe!! She loved it and has so many stories. She actually made her way back to live in the area briefly a few years ago! And so did I. It’s industrial over there currently. Maybe it’ll quiet down some soon. 🙂