Blades of Grass
by Keith U.
I picked away blades of grass
dried on the side of my shoe
where the sole meets the rest.
The welt where floormats
and doormats
and even wiping with paper towels-
pulled from the roll he'd left in the floor of his truck
perched on the transmission hump
-wouldn't reach.
(How that roll stayed put
when I drove
I'll never know.)
I'd wiped away as many
of the fresh green blades
as I could
from polished leather
the same rainy August morning
they'd gathered there.
(“What are the odds of August rain in Texas?”
I'd quipped days before
as arrangements were made.)
Yet rain that morning fell, unimpressed by the odds.
I picked away blades of grass
without making much progress
and paused to listen to echos
reverberating
twenty eight years a memory
my teenage voice, complaining to my teacher
“I don't want to do that story, it is boring.”
Her retort rang clear
and sharp
as the day she'd snapped back
“You'reboring. A writer can make anything interesting.
“Even a blade of grass.”
I picked away blades of grass
that had gathered
as I carried him
from the car
in the rain.
I and five others
snaked between flat markers
across yards and yards of grass
fresh cut for us, for this.
A few words were said
then I walked away
back to his truck
leaving him behind
where the soul meets the rest.
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Stunningly beautiful, Keith.
Thank you Kitty (Kat? Ms. Boots? Mr. Boots?), three words and my day has turned. Thank you for that.
There are poems that skim one's surface, there are poems that turn one's head, there are poems that make one surrender to the shift it brings, then there are memorable poems; poems that linger and then, in a rare moment, a poem settles in and find a home; rarer still is when the poem remains, its poet moves in with it.
Yes, of course.
*****
I'm speechless, Amantine, that is the most generous kindness I've ever received. Thank you.
Thank you, Jim, for reading, the comment, and the fav!
Amantine captures the spell of this poem with much grace. So much unexpected routine phenomena that color important memory. Universal.
*
Thank you Angela!
Nice. What everyone else so eloquently said above. *
Exquisite taps for the aesthete.
Thank you so much, Christian and Mathew, for reading and commenting and the faves!
Good!
Thanks, Smiles!
Sole/Soul meets the rest...you've really done something special here *
Thank you Foster!
Keith, this is a stunning poem. Every single stanza is so perfectly composed. The imagery and the narrative are wonderful. So many lines that resonate in reading it, and long after reading it. For me, especially: 'I picked away blades of grass / that had gathered / as I carried him / from the car / in the rain.' Truly an extraordinary poem.