Monday, April 13, 2020

With Sympathies to Ichabod Crane And Etc.

(for Washington Irving and the Hudson Valley)

hobgoblin hobnobs and the clerks of court
could with a little work be catapulted into
a ghostly tale or two: ask Dickens, who knew or

that keeps me in mind of Ichabod Crane
the schoolteacher down the lane
he lived so quietly

or tried to. what good does it do.
the tales will find you out where you are
as circumspect as you may be

reading the Evening Star

if you live solitary you're in for it maybe
taking your lunch breaks in the apple orchards
or scuttling in a cold wind with a meager jacket

your books, accounts under your arm
November's  cider winds at your back

and you full sail without a tack
you're bound to wind up in a vellum volume or two
several centuries later with a ribbon marker

after they stop wondering
what happened to you.

mary angela douglas 13 april 2020

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