Friday, May 08, 2009

wanderer

He had left home, left the green of his own country
to wander across the sun-bleached West,
the dry flat roads of the plains,
and the dark rugged mountains.
But no matter where he traveled,
stranger though he was,
he was never at a loss for words, for he needed none.
The music of his fiddle spoke for him,
and it was welcomed wherever he went.
Doors opened at its sound,
a place was made by a campfire,
and food and drink appeared.
it was a free life.

There it was again—a sharp shrill call.
A bark, he guessed, imagining the coyotes
No, he thought, uncertain now
as the wind brought the sound closer.
Not a bark, but the harsh cawing of crows,
their raucous voices rising from the canyon.

The whistled wind was hushed beneath their loud cries,
and the crickets were silent between the rocks.
into the swirling clouds,
they gave themselves over to flight.
He held his hand over his face
to protect it from the seething dust,

glimpsing in the turquoise sky
the black veins of their parting.

And then the winds quieted,
the dust was exhaled back to the earth,
and the sky shone clear again.
the sound of him playing the fiddle
percolated the air, calming his nerves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Revised from this.

11 comments:

Ralf Bröker said...

Sounds like a ballad somehow. And it touched me, especially this line: "he was never at a loss for words, for he needed none".

Best wishes
Ralf

Whitesnake said...

I actually liked this one, so so close ta the truth aye!

anthonynorth said...

Almost a saga, this one.

Rajlakshmi said...

well penned... a jouney of life it seems... real and pratical...

Sage said...

I was thinking you had my life pegged--until you got to the part of the fiddler! Nice journey--I left the green of the coast for the deserts and the mountains of the west--where I sojournered over a decade for moving into the midwest of the US.

Cassiopeia Rises said...

Tami this is wonderful. You could put these lines to music. Great images and flow.


I am having a problem posting on MPT RE-VISITED
I have forgotten the code to post could you post it or email it to me?
Beloved49@gmail.com

I also have moved to blogspot.com
http://beloveddreamer.blogspot

love, Melamie

Deborah Godin said...

You always amaze me with you turns of phrase, this is awesome!

Andy Sewina said...

Brilliant! the revision and the original story reveal a hidden depth of knowledge.

'he was never at a loss for words, for he needed none' phew!!

Unknownwriter49 said...

I thought it was me ..until the fiddle

Wayne Pitchko said...

nicely written..both versions

Janice Thomson said...

I loved this the first time too. Such fantastic imagery in this.