Return Poem by Barry Middleton

I'd rather not return
my neighbors went to see
the chimney toppled over
the fallen pecan tree

the room where we had supper
collapsed beneath the weight
the storm had smashed it all
my mother's garden gate

the landscape turned asunder
by cruel tornadic wrath
that I could never find
my childhood woodland path

in my enchanted forest
the trees are bleached like chalk
the brush reclaims the ruins
where barefoot I would walk

but still the creek is flowing
adventure all around
another boy is wandering
to see what can be found