The Story Garden 5.0
Poetry


Photograph by Sue Miller The Pathway Left In Evidence

The pathway left in evidence prefers effusion
A jettisoning of things not so germane
At a reasonable pace, a sloughing off
Of sideshows and galleys

But since we prefer everything
Truth and down
She remains:
A matter of nature
In unnatural lie
Distended and stressed
By too much information

There are lessons
In certain feats of engineering
This river
It corners where it drained
And holds the blood
Captive in the vein

So in town, with everyone a philosopher
And afraid of drowning
They’re building defenses

This is not a habit, it’s a state
The best groundwork we have happened by
Lain to shame but still enshrined
It matters, but it doesn’t matter why

--Nicholas Barnes
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