Two Pauper's Poems, the First
A Morning Among Trees; A Fire After Dinner
A Morning Among Trees
Before the rising of the sun and the turning of the earth,
I sit under a canopy
of tall and sprawling trees that, long before my birth,
took root and came to be.
The birds on their branches, for many generations have been
gathering to sing in this place.
I was a stranger but now have been welcomed in,
with an old friend’s embrace.
I behold and ponder the ground, where leaves and limbs lay at rest,
and consider the fate of man.
As the light comes down, I return grounded and blessed,
To the place I began.
A Fire After Dinner
I sit outside, in the evening light,
full, and relaxed, and glad.
The sky is wide, and beneath its height,
I’m free from stress I had.
The fire expands, crackling the wood,
with a gentle, calm breeze.
I look at my hands, calloused real good
from chopping fell oak trees.
With fragrance of smoke, the embers glow,
my briar held in hand;
The cedar and oak burn soft and slow,
with a Virginia blend.
I sit next to my wife. In the yard
our daughters run and play.
I thank God for life, and pray He guard
this from fading away.