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Harvest Moon O're Withered Fields
...the village shivers a hive of restless souls
skin pricklin' with anticipation
as costumed runners fixin' to gather — hearts a-thrummin'
like trapped hummin' birds
the gun cracks — a thunderbolt
shatterin' th' autumn calm
bodies surge forward, a mighty flood of desperation
hopes misplaced, yet unyieldin'
jack-o-lanterns leer from yonder doorsteps
their hollow grins like flickerin' owls in the wind
Willow, once a saplin' in Tom's arthritic hands
now a gazelle with muscles coiled 'neath sun-kissed skin
her grandad's voice -- a steady compass
urgin' her through the storm
Tom — roots planted in war-torn soil
comrades' names etched in the lines of his face
time-worn joints creak like rusty hinges
each step a battle 'gainst the relentless tickin'
his heartbeat once steady as war drums now falters
Don limps —his plastered leg a cruel anchor
dreams splintered like his tibia on black ice
the antiseptic's ghost permeates th' air
sterile corridors
perfidious prognoses
Jenna — wrapped in a year's bounty her body ripplin'
with the weight of wet unfallen leaves
bitterness thickens on 'er tongue
her body — a prison of comfort food
midnight binges an' unanswered hunger
her pulse races t'ward a frantic countdown
Jim and Christa — hands held tight
bound by love, tethered by illness
her body — a war zone his touch — a fleetin' balm
chemo's sour scent clings like death's perfume
their future — a handful of stol'n moments
pensive prayers slippin' through fingers
the young couple drunk on youth's sweet wine
blind to shadows lurkin' just beyond
their laughter lingerin' in the October chill
oblivious to th' stopwatch siphonin' their joy
four hours:
the clock ticks — a heartless god
each second — a heartbeat
a breath
a life inchin' closer to th' edge
empty shelves vapors of scarcity
bandages pills precious as gold dust
the road stretches — a ribbon of fate frayin'
rough asphalt and dirt-laden trails bite at soles
air thick with decay
windin' through fields of withered crops
and unspoken fears
fall'n leaves crackle underfoot a dissonance of decay
th' air grows thick with rottin' apples
an' smoke curlin' from distant fires
Willow flies — feet barely grazin' earth
Don grits 'is teeth, determination poolin' in 'is sweat
Jenna's lungs blaze, a wildfire in 'er chest
Jim and Christa — hands linked:
fragile butterflies in autumn's cruel wind
the finish line looms
a threshold
to salvation or damnation
the clock's hands whirl
cheers erupt as the first cross th' line
relief an' joy mingle like incense in th' air
but as the fourth-hour tolls
a sound shatters th' sky
gunshots echo in th' distance
a harvest of a different kind
Willow crumples victory hollow
her grandad's absence an ache in 'er chest
his 'eartbeat forever silenced
Jim's triumph dissolves to ash
Christa's silence — the final quiescence — deafenin'
Don and Jenna — stranded behind
their bodies plumb worn an' unwillin' betray them one last time
the village keens — a shared grief
for more than fallen leaves
October's cruel harvest reaps deeper
a rendered toll
survivors freeze realization dawnin'
like a blood-red sun
this race was never just about time
or fleetin' glory
in th' distance,
gunshots punctuate
th' autumn air
a s t a c c a t o rhythm of finality
of lives extinguished
Halloween mask slips revealin'
the raw face of terror
carrion-hungry vultures
circlin' above
waitin'... voracious for the weakest
final heartbeats fade... like distant drums
as decay’n guttural gunshots grate across
th' withered fields...
Copyright ©
Daniel Henry Rodgers
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