Out In The County

rewrite of a poem from "Country Folks"

Out in the County

 

 Even now

You can still find them

The Old Places

In groves of chinaberry trees

Among short broken pillars

small cairns, moss and lichen blotched

You can find them by Land Rover and Subaru

Wearing your canvas shoes

Your fashionably blousy shorts

The ones with the big pockets

You can find them

The blue glass of old bottles

The china heads of honored dead

And the occasional thimble

Author's Note

Thanks for reading

Reviews

[CD Campbell]

Sounds like my great-great grandparents land in Booneville Arkansas. Nothing is left of their old house but a vine overgrown collapsed chimney 1000 feet back from the road. Sure, I probably could have found old blue glass bottle bits there, but the ticks dissuade you from searching. Decayed is what I'm kinda feeling today after an overnight beer bender. Great imagery on this one.

[Delmar Cooper]

Thanks for reading and your comment.

[CD Campbell]

Anytime.....

[h d e rushin]

I have been in this country. that place that you eexhale from the body protoplasm, through
the blood by diffusion. and it was just as you described it. imaginative and occupied. well done/

dana

[Delmar Cooper]

thanks Dana

[Tricia Pattinson]

I like the sense of history ebbing and flowing comfortably.

[Vidya Bacchus]

Your descriptions are so vivid I can see the images so clearly and laced with a yearning for the past. This is a lovely poem :)

[Delmar Cooper]

Thank you for reading and for your kind words

[Vidya Bacchus]

You are very welcome :)

[Sami Khalil]

I felt the great longing to the old places and china berry trees. A splendid poem...:)..............

[Delmar Cooper]

Thanks Sami still some places like that left in Tuscaloosa County.

[Sami Khalil]

Yep. It is booming here in Tuscaloosa. Take care...:)....................

[V]

I like the imagery, especially at the beginning but also the turn after the 6th line.

[Nusquam Esse]

I especially like your first segment, about the old places, I could just see the image in my mind! It is amazing how beautiful decay can really be, while at the same time, being so haunting. I also really like your final line, I am not really sure why, but it just added such personality to this. Don't get me wrong, the whole china heads was also great, but the way you worded your ending was superb.

[Delmar Cooper]

Hi
Where have you been? Writing, I hope. I live in Alabama so we are conversant with decay, mildew is the state flower.

Albert Speer, Hitlers architect, greated his garand (grandiose?) designs based on a "Theory of Ruins." He visualized the building in decay, like the parthenon or the collesium before he made his plans. Pretty far sighted, if you ask me. Thanks for the comments.

[Nusquam Esse]

I have been trying to get around to writing, but life has been crazy the last few days; I only got a couple pages into a story before I was dragged away unwilling. I have moved around a lot, but currently I live in Utah... it is dry here, most buildings are under a hundred years old, and the closest you get to decay is graffiti. ;) Of course living in Louisiana was very much what you described... but it actually does get better--Japan. Nothing quite like finding ancient buildings which have been retaken by nature. One of my recent stories is actually based on the idea of abandoned things, places, and ideas; and is based on my experiences in Japan. First time I have written a story which was not entirely fiction.

[Delmar Cooper]

I look forward to reading it one day, hopefully in a big name magazine.

[Lyn Anderson]

A feeling of longing, of looking back into the past, a hominess, a quiet peace. An interesting piece.

[Delmar Cooper]

Thanks, the old homeplaces had chinaberry trees, which I mention after "thanks" because there is a 25 character minimum.

[Emily B]

the first time i found myself in alabama, the armadilloes were all in love, i found a pottery shop and an old hardware store that sold woodstoves and rocking chairs, i bought myself a dasher for a butter churn i didn't own yet, it was a big adventure

i like your voice