Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Daubers


 Daubers

John Clare Stokes


In the loft the old volumes found

Long out of print in dusky slow rot

Words gone unread with pages bound

by homes the daubers long forgot.


In the shed the old Briggs chugs

Pull rope frayed, varnished gas 

Fuel lines stopped up with mud

Dauber homes from the past.


In the barn the Columbus cooking vat

Georgia Red cane grinding to a halt

Tobacco barn rabbit burners sputter and spat

it’s tiered rows the daubers sought.


On the porch the bare bulb is dim

We chip and chip for a yellow glow

A muddy mist casts a shadow slim

Keeping daubers warm long ago.


So brilliant were our golden guilds

Forever and ever they would last

But patiently the daubers build

His kingdom clogging, long after

ours is past.

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