Great Plains
Every continent has its flatlands,
its great plains. Planned plain land,
green with grass or grain, without
close-set trees or oceans. Unmown
meadows, flat and vast. The veldt,
wide yellow belt of wildness. Fever
country, fields in which thousands
of people would fit, if they lived
nearby. Heath, moorland, pasture,
outback, tundra. Windy, hindered
lands, places in which to graze and
wander, to walk through while
wondering, Where should I go
so the wind can reach through me,
so I can rifle through life while
living it. Prairies help us hear
the quietness hatching within
us, help us feed our prayeries.
That's really setting out to be one with the elements. Superb.
ReplyDeleteI can hear the wind, see the coneflowers, and feel the rough wheatgrass on my fingers.
ReplyDeleteJust beautiful. I'm in awe.
So much to praise in this, from the alliterative sounds of those "ps" and "gs" at the start, to the plays on "hindered" ("hinter") and "prayeries" ("prairies"), to the vividness of the images overall. There's a spaciousness in this that opens and fills up the reader.
ReplyDeletealright...for sure this is absolutely my favorite...though I love the ocean, naturally, I am always captivated by the great plains...where I realize the roundness of space...where I realize my true size....you are incredible xx
ReplyDelete"The veldt,
ReplyDeletewide yellow belt"
Awesome.
I loved this even before i got to "prayeries." Wonderful stuff, and true indeed.
ReplyDeletePrairies. Yes, they do. Absolutely.
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing about my favorite color palette :). When Martin drove his daughter through Nebraska late Summer to take her to college in South Carolina he expected to see amber waves of grain, but there was just corn. Corn forever.
ReplyDelete