Scarecrow

Where does the road
Where does the road go?
Into the field
Dreaming in snow
What’s in the field
Fallow and cold?
A man made of earth
Warmest I know

Wheat for his calves
Corn to his thighs
Heart full of the dark dirt’s sorrow
Eyes made of the heat of July
Scarecrow
Scaring the bird so
Just the sort of fear
Draws her near

And come the spring
Will we burn the field?
A line of fire
Racing up the hill
A cutting wire
A cutting wheel
That’s the winter cutting me
Waiting for your hand to heal.

Where does the road
Where does the road go?
Into the field
Dreaming in snow

Winter 2001
Kansas / New Orleans