Country
Sunday
Near Bethune, South Carolina
Perry
Higman
An
old man
and a little boy,
dressed in Sunday clothes,
walking
a South Carolina road—
they're a mile or more from town—
seems like nowhere—
whe're they goin'?
going
home
going home
The
old man's got
a high-crowned cap
and the little boy
pulls on his hand
trying to lean out
toward the road—
I pull left a bit
not to get too close
going
home
going home
And
he tips his hat
to give me thanks—
The
Carolina road
glitters with bits of quartz,
shining green-mown grass
along each side—
autumn leaves
glow with gold and rust
this Sunday evening
as far as we can see . . .
going
home
going home
***
Perry
Higman teaches at Eastern Washington University. His poetry
translations have been published in book form by City Lights in
San Francisco, Eastern Washington University Press, The Metropolitan
Museum in New York, and Takarajima Books in Tokyo. One of his
original poems appeared in the Southern Maine Review, and
part of a poem he wrote about Roy Rogers' death appeared in the
New York Times Sunday Magazine.
©
Perry Higman