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Passage
At the end of a small shallow creek
home to ducks and fishes
its shores wooded and marshy--
There! Looking like granite rocks
moss covered, shaded by tall trees
old gravestones,
grey and weathered, and silent
beyond them,
half hidden amid God's growth
a once magnificent church
brick and solid and imposing
and silent
echo of a time
when this small waterway
was the center of a vibrant community.
Gone, the living have gone
and the land reclaims the dead.
Poems Written at a Celebration
1.
Usually on the verge of hysteria
she complained about all
the injustices in her life;
Now grey and quiet
she dotes on her granddaughter.
2
The reception--
like the household--
was disorganized--
food, drink, service scarce--
no one complains.
3
Once, her daughter had attitude
and dressed to display it
Now she cradles her baby--
serene.
4
A slip of a woman
she married short
so she does not have to look up.
5
Once she was ambitious
to conquer the world;
Now a parent
her world is her home.
6
The father pauses in his busyness--
Fatherhood? --its such a burden.
Motherhood?
She shrugs, feeding the baby
I'm too busy.
7
The vibrant younger generation
clusters together--
their anxious parents drift to the periphery
sensing that it is their time
to fade away.
8
He looks around
and sees all his contemporaries--
all so old--
his life wasted.
9
While the patriarch holds court
his wife worries the details--
life endures.
A Boater's Lament
It is nice
that gulls and ospreys
and other birds
who fish the Bay
waste so little
eating all the fish
its flesh, its soft tissues
leaving just a few bones
picked clean.
It's nice they leave
so little waste
so little mess.
It would be even nicer
if they didn't leave it
on my boat
Peter Goodwin Born in New Jersey, lived (mostly) in England until the age of eighteen; college in Virginia, travelled through Europe and Asia; taught at University in Thailand, elementary school in England, secondary school in Virginia; moved to New York, worked as a playwright, moved to Maryland, bought a boat, writes poetry while providing succulent treats for deer, rodents , birds and insects. (August 2008)
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