The Ole Mill Wheel
The Mill wheel wouldn't turn until the Spring.
When winter’s ice stops up the water’s flow,
as small town folk expect, the Mill shuts down.
The Mill shuts down, yet people mill around.
Some weekend nights we'd see the miller’s son
and his young cronies heading down that road.
It happened quite often and we guessed why;
but knowing wouldn't throttle tittle-tat.
Whispers ran through the town from door to door
and farther still they traveled phone to phone.
From where we talked, such weekend visits spoke
of poker, gambling, maybe beer and girls.
Such gossip served to freeze up logic’s course.
Such gossip thawed the warmer days of March;
electric poles appear around the site.
Ice melts, revealing secrets - wheel creaks.
The secret is… they’ve modernized the mill
surprising us all who had run our tongues.
Its mighty wheel will creak now all year round,
all year round, just like the gossip mill.
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