Grandpa's Weathered Red Barn

Grandpa’s rustic, once crimson red barn sheltered so much and so many different things From biting bitter cold, to cyclonic winds, and hard-drenching-down-pouring rains… Great memories lie heaped, buried in antique red rubble and sifted gray ash Decaying on open flat grassy plain along with the historic Civil War past… The red barn was where I learned about his cranky, short tempered, milking cow Never wander too close to hind legs for they will surely send you tumbling down… The weathered red barn held fabulous hiding places for rodents, snakes, and me I know its brave red heart protected me from countless accidents and waiting dangers… I acquired great joy sliding down its majestic shingled low-sloping roof Continuously riding into insidiously giant pillow-soft snow drifts… Sacred memories of childhood absorbed in knot holes and immense pillared rafters Echoing in the attached silo and milk room where laughter gathered non-stop… Along the country roadside, down a pot-hole filled gravel dirt road, were neighboring farms But not one barn could match the strength or beauty of Grandpa’s weathered red barn… Copyright © 2010 By Caryl S. Muzzey Fifth Place Winner ~ "That Old Red Barn” Poetry Contest Sponsored by: Rick Parise Dec. 10, 2010