Wyoming

 

A shallow winding valley

Enfolded the farm on all sides

The fenced lawn extended

Almost as far as the creek

 

The long trimmed lawn

The sweeping drive

A view to be proud of

A family empire built to last

Now all gone

 

The air was thick with heat

We walked in sweat-sodden shirts

Down the broad curve of the driveway

Back to the front door of the house

Long-gone house

 

 

Below us the farm buildings

Rose short-shadowed in the early afternoon

The new horse barn

with a vaulted roof --- over the hayloft

 

Close to the house

The flowerbeds

Watered each evening with kitchen slops

The blades of the windmill barely turned

In the listless breeze

 

The air was thick with heat

We walked in sweat-sodden shirts

Down the broad curve of the driveway

Back to the front door of the house

Long-gone house

         

One mile southeast

The land was rough

With a southerly tilt that would expose it to the

Full heat of the summer sun

 

From the high benchland slope

One could see clear to Wyoming

 

From the high benchland slope

One could see clear to Wyoming

 

The air was thick with heat

We walked in sweat-sodden shirts

Down the broad curve of the driveway

Back to the front door of the house

 

The air was thick with heat

We walked in sweat-sodden shirts

Down the broad curve of the driveway

Back to the front door of the house

 

From the high benchland slope

 

We could see clear to Wyoming

 

Words from the book "Bad Land" by Jonathan Raban used with kind permission of the author.