Winning the Dust Bowl

from the forward to
WINNING THE DUST BOWL
by Carter Revard


Watching a rubythroat taste the blue morning glories
by our kitchen window, I used to wonder how it might be
to live like a hummingbird—on the sweets of life,
just touching the world on its blossoms,
taking only what's meant to be taken,
at every touch bringing out new lives,
perching unharmed on lightning-filled wires
to look down into this world,
then before all the North's flowers have fallen,
go humming over the Gulf of Mexico
to the nectar of southern blossoms.

Now, it would seem almost as good to speak
or write so that an iridescence of words
might fly out to visit other minds in those ways,
to make poems that befriend readers,
bring fruits of understanding.

As humans we need all the friends we can find,
being social creatures in a world of strangers,
and sometimes the only place to find them
is a solitary room with a book or two.

Not every friendship comes alive at first sight,
but over time the things friends say and mean become clearer,
are understood better—and if any of these poems
reaches friends, I hope that is how things will go
for each reader and his or her significant other.

Carter Revard; Prose
Linebreaks by Glenn Buttkus