Anecdote of the Field

The children are running across the field, each
carrying something.
Each on his or her spindly legs.
The field's a good field.

And there are wild blackberries to be found, large
red flowers, and birdbaths.
The wind's kicking up behind them.

These children are running to run. They
are pointing
to the grayness of the sky.

Their mouths are all little circles—oh, they say,
there are so many places to be.

In the next field over, a house
is full of smoke.

It is nice, the children say,
to need to be saved from something
and then to be saved.

It is nice to have bright eyes
and to be running.

Copyright © 2006 John Gallaher All rights reserved
from Crazyhorse
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission