Howdy
When I wrote Laura Rodley that I wanted to post “Burdocks,” she replied that the timing was apt since the burdocks are blooming now. I also asked for photos since I don’t have any pics of horses; I was so glad I did because she provided a photo of her horse Cinnamon who is beset with burrs.
She also provided photographs from the 90th Annual Chincoteague Pony Penning. If you’d like to learn more about Chincoteague ponies, read Laura’s articles “Chincoteague Pony Swim” and “Surfer Dude Reigns” in Country Folks.
Burdocks
Burdocks plush in pasture paddock skipped
culling, their burrs caught in horse’s mane, gripped,
a might of their own requiring patience
to remove or snips of scissors. The quince
to the edge of yard, not her choice to eat.
Too bitter, she prefers acorns, neat
snaps between her teeth, cap and shell, needing
only water to wash them down, more feeding
soon to come, everything sure looks good, how
she emanates peace chomping comfrey, bow-
ing to the prickly green leaves, supplicant
munching by milkweed, caterpillars blunt,
stuck underneath leaves, shoring up cocoons,
somewhat late this year for journey cross dunes.
Laura Rodley © 2015
Laura Rodley received a Pushcart Prize for her poem “Resurrection,” (originally in The New Verse News and now in Pushcart Edition XXXVII), and she has had work published in Best Indie Lit New England, Massachusetts Review, and Hunger Mountain among others.
She is editor and publisher of As You Write It, A Franklin County Anthology, a compilation of memoirs from seniors age 70 through 95. Former co-curator of the Collected Poets Series, she teaches creative writing.
“Vagabond Heart” is a pure knockout of a poem by Laura on the Hunger Mountain site. Do check it out, especially if you have a nurse in your life. Other poems by Laura Rodley featured on The New Verse News include “After the Bad News,” which appeared January 23, 2015 and “Snow Before Thanksgiving,” which appeared on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 2014.
Laura also writes features such as “Dreams Do Come True,” and “Normandes for Gourmandes” for Country Folks, the Weekly Farm Paper Highlighting Agriculture.
She has two chapbooks from Finishing Line Press: Rappelling Blue Light and Your Left Front Wheel Is Coming Loose
Thanks again to Laura Rodley.