Buffalo Trace Right of the Road
We think time is implacable, steady
Slow moving, and there is plenty of it.
Depends if you know a bit of history.
Take The sway of the land just there to the right.
Think that is erosion from rain and creek?
Maybe a glacier dug it hard that sweep?
You’d guess dead wrong. Buffalo, yes
Buffalo made that mark, their hoof step mark.
There’s a reason the land around that dent
Is sweet, deep and brings a good crop, for bent
Through time, was left for us a fertile gift
From those ancient herds moving to the salt
Not too far away. It is called Blue Licks today.
It’s a park, a place to play and see Golden Rod,
The rarest species, that first bloomed where
Indians walked and giant bones’ can still be found.
See how tied to time we are, just a bit past yesterday?
Would that a bit of what we are today could be
As timeless as that path strode by hooves
Of creatures who once filled our land, but for
Man, might still be more populous than today.
Time was theirs to leave a lasting trace, bold
Ones today will do the same. Yet we want to hold
To the whisper of the moment not thinking
Of the centuries when others will seek us out.
3 thoughts on "Buffalo Trace Right of the Road"
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The internal rhyme fits well in the fourth stanza (away, today, play).
I admire your rhyming bent approach to poetry. The buffalo don’t roam as wide today, but their small herds are healthy. I get your reasoning in this poem, despite that sage voice: a poem should not mean but be…
Good reminder of this part of the earth’s history. Thank you!