Monday, July 27, 2009

A Walking Run-On


Walked behind the twins on rollerblades, dragging the dog,
carrying books and the water bottle, past Kalamink Creek and the deerfly
who always circles me, buzzes me, bites the top of my head
until I am safely past the Gardziella's house and into the village limits,
tugging on the dog leash at every shady tree where
the dog goes prone and pants, begging for rest, when finally we reach
the library and deposit books and rummage a styrofoam cup out of the garbage
to pour water into, helping the dog revive,

and starting back we cross with the light and call out to Mr. Nack who is unloading
industrial furniture into the school, and he waves back, recognizing the twins
because it is a small town, but I am still surprised at that after all this time,
and then we are kind to Duncan, the white retriever who is tied to a tree by
giving him a wide berth and stepping into the street but he still barks with hysterical joy and our dog keeps his head down,
until he sees at the next house the black lab behind the invisible fence, resting demurely, and then our dog is all snarls and raised ruff,

and now we stop talking as the heat bears down and walk the last stretch of road
circled by Brandon on his Huffy, and stopping only to estimate the worth
of the riding lawnmower parked for sale in a yard and we deem it not worth a
hundred bucks, but quietly, because we are silent walkers now intent on home and
rest and shade,
for our water is gone and the deer fly is back.

*

6 comments:

Heidi Lee said...

Your a very good writer. I could picture everything..even reviving Buddy.

I love to take walks with the girls too. We will ride bike to our library quiet often, or to the park, or just take a walk through our neighborhood.

Thats what summer is about!

Beth said...

I could hear the deerfly and feel the heat.

Extraordinary description of a typical summer day.

Wilde said...

So lovely. (period)

Kelle said...

oh, i felt it. loved it. the small town and summer. we'll look back and read these someday when we're gray...and we're gunna smile.

speaking of smiling...the parmesean cheese and jelly? bwah ha ha ha. i'm so glad you are a cryderman too. it's just that when we run into the store on a whim to get everything we need for dinner that night, we get everything. because we can't remember if we have it. and we do this every time. so glad i'm not the only one. hurricane season is here, and you never know when we'll be stuck and may just need those eight bottles of italian dressing.

mrc-w said...

You're already making me miss summer and it's not even over yet!

Lisa Y. said...

What a dynamic post! Loved every word!! Art.