The soldiers woke us at 5 a.m.,
a bullhorn announcing we had
an hour to pack our belongings
& leave. 200 years we’ve lived
in this glade, subsisting on cow’s milk
& white rice, Sundays, sittin’
on the porch, pickin’ & a-grinnin’
as the old song says. I left a note
for those who will replace us:
God damn you all! (& please
fertilize twice a year the chestnut tree
out back, the last of its kind.)
Published in Open Arts Forum on .
I've lived in Tucson since 1953 and retired in 2008 from teaching writing at Pima Community College.
My poems have appeared in journals like [iCarolina Quarterly, Barrow Street, RATTLE, and [iNew Poets of the American West. Free Hugs, my 13th poetry collection, was just published by Coyote Arts (Albuquerque). To order or for more information about my poetry, visit
jeffersoncarterverse.com
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