Old Plowman Poem by Charles Eastland

Old Plowman
(for Eph)

Rusty relics
Old Ephraim
And his red
Chevy Pickup
With a dented
Yellow plow

He smiled a lot
And talked a lot
Mostly ‘bout old
Times in Maine
Of logging roads
The woodsman's life
Was hard as ice
And twice as cold

His precious junk
Scattered around
The magnetized yard
Metal auto parts
Get few complaints
On that junky yard
The newbies mostly

One winter’s day
My morning coffee
Steamed windows
I did see out
Past the feeders
Over snow banks
Tween naked trees
Saw the red Chevy
And dented plow
Tilted off road
Deep in big snow
And in the ditch

Such icy scenes
That easy defeats
Those new trucks
With wide v-plows
And ultra drive
Yet slips those
Power hulks quiet
Off soft shoulders
Into deep gullies
And maybe there
till Spring thaws

I sipped coffee
And pondered
Past chick-a-dees
For a long moment
Watched experience
In a clever show
Rocking n’ reversing
Back and forwards
An old fox finesse
of secret maneuvers
Subtle as a lover
Working that goal

And said I to myself
Guess I’ve got to
Strip the pajamas
Get boots and gear
And help him out

Upstairs I went
Came down ready
But not for that
Window surprise

The old plowman
Through a magic
Brewed from past
Dawned troubles
With potent spells
He’d gotten free

Driving the red
Old Chevy pickup
With yellow plow
Dented edge down
Firm on the ground
Plowing that snow
clear off the road
gone past my window
And my good intent

Down the road
went Old Eph
And up went my cup
Neighbor for neighbor
will come another day

Charles Eastland

(from Selected Poems - 10/2015)