Milling About

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The Maid of the Mill/Helen Kendrick Johnson, 1900
Public Domain

Homecoming

It’s been nearly fifty years since I’ve been to this old mill.

And yet, those past fifty years rushed right by me.  In a heartbeat,

whirling dust and wood and dappled sunlight streaked, until

everything including time ceased, as I glanced at an uneven bit of floorboard.

It’s where I left a note for you, with all the words my heart could spill.

I pledged my teenaged love to you and agreed we could run away.

But then you never replied. Your voice was silent, still.

So I lifted the board, and with a special sadness, saw the yellowed vellum sheet…

timing is everything, or what you will.

###

The form is Magic 9.
The poem was inspired by Sepia Saturday's prompt of

CanaLife

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
A Venice Canal, 1868/Eugenio Lucas Velazquez (1817-1870)
Public Domain

Canaliculi

What secrets bridge the span as they stand, bestridden

across the damp, ancient sandstone façade?

While the view may appear handsome, it is still forbidden,

since its face, its veneer, remains impenetrable and unsolvable.

Perhaps, in the aged mortar, someone slid in

a secret message or a cipher,

locked within the seams because that person didn’t

want the significance known by man or god,

and so, for all eternity, it shall remain hidden. 

###

Notes: The form is Magic 9, a very fun, addicting form.  It was recently featured at Poetic Asides, as the latest in their Forms Challenges.  The poem was inspired by Sepia Saturday's picture prompt: