The Old Mule

On a clay ridge by a water oak
that had sprung up somewhere
around the Revolution we burned
grill cheese sandwiches and heard
owls, summer ducks and water frogs
near Cedar Creek. By the time light
went out the wine was gone and we
lay face to the clouds moving in pitch
night, fire logs not even glowing
anymore, wind up from the bottom
shaking the blue tarp, almost blowing
under our camping pads, pushing
us to cramp together in a thin mass
of arms and nervous breathing.

by Tom Sexton

Sunday Morning

Come down and do your crossword. I worry
when you stay in bed. Last night's early frost
killed the sweet peas but not our patch of berries.
Seven across just might be Limberlost.
The morning paper says a man with Alzheimer's
has wandered off to find his long dead wife.
He told an aide he knows just where to find her.
All he has with him is a butter knife.
Hurry down. I want to see you grimace
when you might be stumped. Five down is breath.
The day is quickly turning cold and grim.
Do you remember a Mary Elizabeth?
The raspberries in your white bowl
are bright and firm and very, very cold.

I hereby resolve on January 1st, 2009 to:

-1- Eat more bacon. Almost none was consumed in '08.

-2- Visit a water park.

-3- See if I can finally get through Ulysses.

-4- Spend a week in the Black Hills of Dakota.

-5- Decide on a career.

-6- Consider a lobster.

-7- Quit taking myself so seriously.

-8- Write down some of my greatest memories.

-9- Pay attention to the Jesus signs on the sides of old barns.

-10- Befriend an officer of the law.

-11- Visit a Dairy Queen somewhere in West Virginia.

-12- Read Russian History.

-13- Learn to master the glow-in-the-dark frisbee

-14- Kayak the Snake River.

-15- Find that lost rhododendron hill park in Eugene, Oregon.

-16- Fly fish the Animus.

-17- Study the Hindus and Buddhists.

-18- Learn about Islam.

-19- Take L and the dog camping in Pink Beds.

-20- Write more without worrying who will read it.

-21- Drive around Wales.

-22- Get a dog.

-23- Bestow forbearance where undeserved.

-24- Drink more tequila.

-25- Say what I really think.

-26- Understand that the past is obliterated.

-27- Become more Russian.