Project #2: Landscapes

KATE/TETA

I thought as I was mowing my lawn on July 4, that it might be interesting to collect thoughts in prose or poetry about how we see our landscape, our general surroundings. What do we think about our urban, suburban, or rural environments? The thoughts may be political or personal. They may focus on memories of the past or possibilities for the future.

The following is a free verse poem prompted by my yardwork--I found myself thinking of global warming (having just heard that using a gas lawn mower pollutes as much as perhaps eleven cars driving to work). Also in mind was my father's experiences growing up on a farm with no power implements--only with "walking implements." His childhood was powered by horses and human hands.

Perhaps you will click on the "comments" following this poem and add your own thoughts about your immediate environment--your world close at hand--as you have come to think about it. Here are my thoughts found in yardwork:


Yard Work on Independence Day

Proud, I cut the grass--
the lawn mower roars
pulled by a Briggs and Stratton
6 horsepower engine
harnessed by Sears loyalty.
No quiet horses
pause to chew grass.
I gaze,
my crop fresh cut,
machine mulched grass
blue, fescue, rye--
done.

I wonder
if the mower pollutes
(as stated in the news)
more than six horses?
Well, regardless--
I have my work,
my conscience,
here close to earth
and the sweat of my brow
beneath a July sun--
Independence Day.

My land. My horses
choke and sputter and
2-stroke roar--no
neigh and whinny,
no stomp of hooves,
no manure
fresh with labor.
Free in the suburbs,
I send my son
for gas.