Majestic Paradox

Emily at the Campfire

an Elegy

Southern pure and railroad poor

Her hamlet flung her like a fastball

Fully expecting by catchers hand or bat her return

Wild Turkey fueled talk reveals the geometry of our lives

Her stories poetic - simple as Frost - American as Whitman

The fire we sit round lights the journey through each

Burning truths we have come to know

The star covered night becomes our roof

And by histories discover each other

Religion eases into her life again

As she begins to leave me

On that fearsome arc of returning

While mine still waits at the door

Her fire dimmed to ashes becomes

An elegant star to light my way