Amish Country For M. J. Lavin Poem by S. R. Lavin

AMISH COUNTRY for M. J. Lavin



In the cool of the morning

the breeze comes from somewhere else,

me on the porch in a rocking chair,

another day becoming the truth

without illusion, without misgivings.



In the fields the Amish plow and plant

with teams of horses, a people

sequestered from the anxieties

of being where they don’t belong,

getting their chores done, tending to their business.



The children walk to the schoolhouse.

The field swallows orchestrate a life of their own.



Humanity at risk, the Patriot Act like a cancer not in remission,

while global engineers study their satellite data.

A discussion over the air waves

about the psychopathic personality

(those who hurt others without regret) .



I stay sane, plotting the poem for several days, and then

under the shade of a black elm tree, shedding

as much ego as I can, I contemplate a god

to form me into the shape of who I want to be.