Hoarfrost

Wayne (Scott) Ray
From:   An Invisible Accordion: A Canadian Poetry Association Anthology. Ed. Jennifer Footman. Fredericton, NB: Broken Jaw Press, 1995.

Milkweed pods and golden rod, their
hoarfrost melted by the sunrise
along the gravel road that has seen
many a raven's midnight wing.
Just leeside of the frost and
as far as the eye can see at dawn,
the silhouette of a million pea seeds
hung in their pre-harvest wombs
trail shadows with this day's sun.

So quiet you can hear the wind passing
over the last raven's wings as it
lands, talons crunching the soil
a distance away. Waiting and watching.

The sun breaks into daylight
above a hill, warming the good Earth,
the road less travelled and two
night weary travellers.

Pulling a bent leg to her chest
on the warm hood of the car at roadside
she shades her eyes as the morning light
changes from a cool orange to a warmer yellow.
She's watching her dream lover stride
out into the farmer's field with his heart
in one hand and their future in the other.

He turns towards her and sings his song,
ravens rise in the morning air,
starlings land at her feet, she smiles,
catches his love one word at a time,
closes her eyes for a sunshine second,
breathes deeply to calm pre-dawn fears,
slides off the hood and back inside
travelling the road less travelled, alone.

The note on the small box beside her read:
Come to me my lady white
just after dawn in early light
with this ring as a compass we shall start
to rewrite the map of the human heart.

Road dust settled on raven's wings.
Golden rod less golden for a furlong.
Pea pods became corn husks and wheat fields
and the tires of her car spit stones
as she headed East for the coast,
the rising sun burning his memory in her tears.

The fear of a forever love is stronger
than the fear of friendship, she thought.
The dust collected on the grass
and the hoarfrost would be the only thing returning.

Poem 1 | Poem 2 | Poem 3 | Poem 4 | Poem 5

Wayne (Scott) Ray's works copyright © to the author.