"I'm Not This Countryside" by L. Ward Abel

I'm Not This Countryside

I’m not this countryside
draining soils from as far
as the big curve
can bend.

I’m not the mouth of
this great river dividing
countries and states
filling the view.

I’m not the cars enroute
over bridges — their colorized
shiny lives edited just to look
that way even at night.

I’m not megalopoli strewn
from chin to cheek to chin again
beyond and farther still in and of
the glow they emit.

I’m not choices and decisions
made flesh in large buildings in
yet larger rooms engaged in
massive tugs-of-war.

I’m not the way things were,
not a future cue zip-lined
over to more dubious
footing.

I’m not this countryside —
no one else is either
not the horse not the field
nor am I recognized by
kin.

L. Ward Abel

L. Ward Abel's work has appeared in hundreds of journals (Rattle, Versal, The Reader, Galway Review, Main Street Rag, and others), including two recent nominations for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, and he is the author of four full collections and ten chapbooks of poetry, including his latest collection, Green Shoulders: New and Selected Poems 2003-2023 (Silver Bow, 2023). He is a retired lawyer and teacher of literature, and he writes and plays music. Abel lives in rural Georgia.

Headshot: Michael Turpin

Photo Credit: Staff