Lisel Mueller - Five For Country Music

I. Insomnia <br /> <br />The bulb at the front door burns and burns. <br />If it were a white rose it would tire of blooming <br />through another endless night. <br /> <br />The moon knows the routine; <br />it beats the bushes from east to west <br />and sets empty-handed. Again the one <br />she is waiting for has outrun the moon. <br /> <br />II. Old Money <br /> <br />The spotted hands shake as they polish the coins. <br /> <br />The shiny penny goes under the tongue, <br />the two silver pieces <br />weighted by pyramids <br />will shut down the eyes. <br /> <br />All the rest is paper, <br />useless in any world but this. <br /> <br />III. Home Movie <br /> <br />She knows that walk, that whistle, that knock. <br /> <br />It's the black wolf who sticks <br />his floured paw underneath the door. <br /> <br />She tries not to open. One look at his face <br />and she'll drop the gun. He will pick it up <br />and turn it on her where she waits, <br />her eyes shining, her hands over her head. <br /> <br />IV. Golden Boy <br /> <br />Whitewashed, the eyes refuse you. <br /> <br />And so the mouth must be serene, <br />the muscles play, the body <br />take an easy stance <br /> <br />to divert you from the two <br />boarded-up chambers <br />where someone has died. <br /> <br />V. Washing Day <br /> <br />Each year her laundry line gets lighter. <br />One by one they disappear, <br />ten little Indians. They take their socks, <br />their jeans, their stiff plaid shirts. <br /> <br />Above the Ford on its concrete blocks, <br />striped and zippered, <br />her cotton dress flutters on and on.<br /><br />Lisel Mueller<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem..../five-for-country-mu