A Collection of Some of My Favorite Poems, Volume 2, Written by Dan Turner

Pauper's Field

There is a place

That I have found.

That is very close

To the center of town.

I would rather write

Close to the heart of our town.

But, I'm afraid - that it's not so.

The reason why? - It does confound.

Now, this town

Has a heart of gold.

Greater than all of the ore

Taken from our hills and sold.

But for some unknown reason

Most pass by this spot

As if it wasn't there.

As if it were ... a vacant lot.

So many emotions flood my mind.

I really don't know where to begin.

But their story does need told, for this place

Truly is both - the beginning and the end.

True freedom can be found

Within the gates of pauper's field.

Where there is no grass and weeds abound.

Where untold lives have been concealed.

There is a longing feeling here

That is difficult to convey.

Best touched, when you come alone.

Best felt, when you pray.

It is as if the dead wish to speak.

For they call to me, "Where are my heirs?"

"Why have they forsaken me?"

"Why is it, that there are so few that care?"

"When was the last time

That anyone spoke my name?"

"Does anyone recall - the color of my eyes?"

"Do you remember, from whence I came?"

"I bore three children."

"I cut the wood to build this town."

"I laid the iron tracks across this land."

"I tended the cattle." " I tilled the ground."

"But when my health turned bad

And it came my turn to go -

Little of value did I have left.

There was little cash to show."

"I was buried across the road,

In a casket made of pine

In a field of weeds and dirt.

Untended since that time."

Across the way the others lay,

'neath the freshly tended grass.

Under the shade of spreading elms,

With fine monuments, and flowers in glass.

"Is this just another stark reminder

Of mans inhumanity to man?

To punish our souls for dying poor.

How long must our sentence stand?"

Is there perhaps some petty account?

And a little labor to spare.

To provide this hallowed ground

With a little bit more loving care?