PULLING ROOTS

By  E. John Knapp    May 2011

the lights in the farmhouse are out for now 

grandpa’s tall twin pine trees were cut 

sold for lumber

my girls’ swings have disappeared

my eye searches for the wind vane

that was on top of the barn roof cupola

but the horse and cow barn are gone 

I can’t see the pigpen

someone demolished it 

people buy pork at the supermarket nowadays

I wonder what happened

to the sawdust in the ice house

for the icehouse is a goner

the old windmill is still standing tall

not pumping water by wind

electric motor pumps today

the girls are too mature to climb anymore

the large machine barn is gone

where grandpa built furniture and boats

who inherited his large tool chest

today’s maple tree owners

haven’t discovered

making real maple syrup from their trees 

what a great flavor memory

I look for the large vegetable garden

only finding uncut grass growing

can’t find any carrots or turnips

to pull up by their roots

the apple trees cry for pruning

overgrown small crop

 of wormy spotty apples 

grandpa used to spray the trees

I study a recent family photo taken in the front

what happened to the screened porch

only painted posts remain

I used to sleep there in summer

and watch small animals prowl the night 

the strange family that

turned out the lights in the farmhouse today

have put out more than electric lights

I can’t see my roots today