The Lumberjack
John Michael Trent
In the north field where he stacked a generation
of oak and alder stands my friend’s father, brittle
crust of sawdust in his black beard. He rarely speaks
above the rustle of leaves. I could not imagine him laughing.
Across the highway there grows—slowly—a cemetery
and I wonder if he gets the occasional visitor
from the other side, drifting through this horizontal forest
where one can dream in silence for a time. His eyes convey
what he does not say; the ax can’t be unswung.
John Michael Trent is a writer of poetry and fiction whose work has appeared in Moonstone Press, Button Eye Review, The Antonym, and elsewhere. He works as a financial professional in Houston TX where he lives with his wife and their two boys.
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