Small Town Portraits
Lives of residents collaged
as their portraits hang
from a gallery’s ceiling
and spotlight shine
upon their faces.
They are old
they are young
they are boys and men
they are girls and women
these people who have called
a small Iowa town
their own.
Some have posed
in fields
some by their houses
and they frown or smile
their faces offering reflections
of the lives they’ve known
but in their eyes, I see
reflections of the many lives
I’ve lived as I stroll
through the gallery.
My memories stir inside
a deep affection of quiet drives
through the countryside
and past this quiet town.
Once when I stopped
for a pizza
a light shown upon
the face of a girl at the counter.
lights shine like stars
on small town people
living ordinary lives
Copyright © Mike Bayles | Year Posted 2025
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