Issue 14
Spring 2003
Harding Stedler
Harding Stedler received his Ph.D. from Florida State University in Tallahassee. He retired from Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio, after 34 years of teaching English. He has established a writing scholarship for poets at Shawnee State, and the first award will be made this year.
BROKEN LIMBS
The young tree,
with all its limbs but two
broken,
was a victim of some heartless vandal
needing a lesson in justice.
If the vandal will return
some night
so I can break all his limbs but two,
justice will be done.
There is no excuse
for flagrant destruction.
The hydrangea,
for lack of bloom,
will wither in its youth.
In sleep tonight,
I will pin a flower
on each remaining branch
and dream the summer
that might have been.
I pray the tree will heal
and that roots
are stronger than limbs.
NIGHT FISHERMEN
While casinos chime all night,
no one sleeps in Vegas.
Night is alive with quarters
and hungry gamblers.
I watch the fervor
in the eyes of gamers,
intent, like fishermen,
hoping to land a big one.
Intensity, like a halo,
hovers above the serious.
There, one can sense
their bent for winning.
In my pocket,
I jingle last week's tips
and neither win nor lose.
I pass through aisles
like a dieter
who knows what to let alone.
I am the no-luck stranger,
refusing to mortgage tomorrow.PIGEON SPLENDOR
Pigeon River sparkles
in daytime sun
as we ride our way
to darkness
in the splendor
of Christmas lights.
Dolly's trees,
wrapped in red and green,
usher in the season
on wings of song.
The dancing feet of tourists
link sounds of sleigh bells
with mournful strains
of dulcimer.
And mountains wrap their arms
around the moment,
evoking a glimpse of joy.