It’s one of those bleak midwestern days
some people would say builds character.
Biting wind blows through the prairie grass
and leafless trees.
Overcast, dreary,
a morass of mud and sludge
beside the highwater lake.
I’m uncomfortable, yes,
but also content.
It’s good to be outside the city’s
man-made dirt and chaos
surrounded by natural gloom,
out here where the edges are rough
and nothing is trimmed or tidy
or groomed.
I salute the chill and mud,
sit silent as geese honk incessantly,
close my eyes and face the wind.
Photo by Eileen Molony
Charles Rossiter, hosts the bi-weekly podcast at PoetrySpokenHere.com (since 2015). He’s authored several books and chapbooks of poetry. The most recent is Green Mountain Meditations, available from FoothillsPublishing.com. He’s performed his poetry widely at such venues as Nuyorican Poets Café, NYC; Green Mill, Chicago; and the Chicago Blues Festival. He lives and writes in Bennington, VT.
Featured image by Derek Wright.
