MY FAVORITE PLACE

The question was asked, sincerely not idly,

What is your favorite place in town?

The answer requires thought

Since it depends on many things –

The time of day or how I feel, where I am,

Or who I’m with.

Is it the brilliant sunset from the top of the hill,

Or early morning light on the church steeple?

Is it the great blue heron at the edge of the marsh,

Or the majestic bull moose beside the road?

The Canada gander defending his brood from a passer-by,

Or the ungainly porcupine waddling across the lawn?

Is it the crimson glory of cardinal flowers by the brook,

The snowy field of ox-eye daisies,

Or the yellow water lilies afloat on the pond?

The answer may be simple, encompassing them all:

My own house, lamps lit, windows glowing softly,

Welcoming me home in the dusk after a long day.

By Jessie Salisbury

•••

a rhythmic bump of the train

tells a story of historic repetition

a track laid down

by swinging hammers of labor

they hit those beats together

they hit those beats together

shoulder to shoulder

creating a path

to be traveled over and over

by many stories

that rock with harmonic sway

the verse spills from various tongue

words complex and divided

but still they travel

in a rhythmic bump of the train

By Jeni Alden St. Laurent

Nashua