The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard
And made dust and dropped stove length sticks of wood,
Sweet scented stuff when the breeze drew accords it.
And from there those that lifted eyes could count
Five mountain ranges one behind the other
Under the sunset far into Vermont.
And the buzz saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled,
As it ran light, or had to bear a load.
And nothing happened: day was all but done.
Call it a day, I wish they might have said
To please the boy by giving him the half hour
That a boy counts so much when saved from work.
His sister stood beside them in her apron
To tell them "Supper." At that word, the saw,
As if to prove saws knew what supper meant,
Leaped out of the boys hand, or seemed to leap-
He must have given the hand. However it was,
Neither refused the meeting. But the hand!
The boys first cry was a rueful laugh,
As he swung toward them holding up the hand
Half in appeal, but half as if the keep
The life from spilling. Then they boy saw all-
Since he was old enough to know, big boy
Doing a mans work,cutouts a child at heart-
He saw all spoiled. "Don't let them cut my hand off-
The doctor, when he comes. Don't let them, sister!"
So. But the hand was gone already.
The doctor put him in the dark of ether.
He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.
And then- the watcher at his pulse took freight.
No one believed. They listened at his heart.
Little- less- nothing!- and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not dead, turned to their affairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In my Robert Frost book, after the poem it says-
"The last line is painful. Is the speaker saying that they people were heartless?
Or is it saying that life must go on, even in the face of death?"
YOU ARE READING
Poetry
Poetry~Poems~They're not just words on paper, they express feelings right to you~Beautiful Word Portraits~Mine, and others~ For my best poems, read the my newest ones. (The ones toward the bottom of the list)
