Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, COUNTRY DOCTOR, by DANA KNEELAND AKERS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

COUNTRY DOCTOR, by                    
First Line: Today, in that old junk-pile down the hill
Last Line: "how could you guess -- you never rode in one!"
Subject(s): Country Life; Memory; Physicians; Doctors


Today, in that old junk-pile down the hill,
One of the farm's peculiar treasuries --
We found a rusted stay, a splintered thill,
A knee of oak, and surge of memories...

Robbed of their gloss by wash of wind and sun --
No hint of cushioned comfort, scroll display --
But sound as when their runnered flight was done
Decades ago... or was it yesterday?

I see spent mustangs -- weary miles to go --
The heads up-flung in sudden, age-old fright,
As a wild chorus shrills across the snow --
A soothing word, and onward through the night.

Fur-coated form -- a cabin door flung wide --
A shape that leers across the ragged spread --
Two kind, cruel hands, and One to watch beside --
Two lives his offering, when dawn burns red!

"Daddy, what is this thing beat like a bow?"
"Just an old piece of Grandpa's cutter, son --
He used to drive one 'round here, long ago --
How could you guess -- you never rode in one!"





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