Short Trappers Poems

The world pushes left
  the world pushes right

The middle ground deadly
  a trappers delight

Pigeons take refuge
  as hawks rule the skies

Hunting all charlatans
  —truth in their eyes

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)...

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If I could fly 
where would I try
to climb a mountain where birds lie	
safe from trappers 
blasting loud guns

If I could swim
where would I take fins
to swim a deep river with schools of fish 
unharmed by fishers
hook lining for their branchia...

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Lake like glass,
no wind this eve
which makes 
blackflies hell 
but the canoe glides
across the water 
like the trout
I pursue 
but seldom 
catch.

Up two islands 
turning back at 
the abandoned 
trappers cabin
returning fishless 
to my humble tent
and a solitary scotch 
as the sun sets
and mosquitoes 
replace blackflies....

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At Otter Lake, whilst welkin starry clear,
A ghostly wail bruits eerily despair,
And eyes appear alit like embers near,
At Otter Lake.

Avaunt, the trappers pray, bedim thy glare;
In sooth, thy mourning grieves a bygone year,
From earthly bourn, ascend to angels care.

Arose a zephyr, thick as bloodied air,
And shrieking withered every soul with fear,
To where a man durst lay his footsteps there,
At Otter Lake....

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There was left no middle,
of the path. It was a washed-
out theme and 
negative numbers.

No bounce in the steps.
You were cowering in terror
of tomorrow. The fear
overwhelmed the alp.

It was a family feud,
from ashes to bones.
The mixed cadence was sending
the wrong signals to the walls.

The voices now come on the street,
for traditional wars, in
change of seasons. It 
was raining out of turn.


Satish Verma...

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Remember the move, The Music Man? 
How our hero was terrified of librarians.
He said they wanted marriage.
They were hunters and trappers.
They look unassuming and innocent.
Their ways are wily, their traps are sneaky.
This librarian is one of those. The men do not know yet.
They are checking out books like mad.
Pretending they know how to read. 
I am the older librarian now. I sit back and smile.
Remembering when the young lads discovered me....

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