Man of means
John Clare Stokes
Were I a man of means
Able to carry out my dreams
I'd reclaim remnants others
Let slip away
Allow them to live long beyond
My dying day
I'd take Verbenadale
The little Country church
Out from Williston
Falling down
Restore it down
To the upright piano
The wooden pews too
In a few homes yet
The Prepare to meet thy God blue sign
The red muslin curtains
Make it a shrine
To a time
We danced beneath those leaning majestic oaks
With some colored folks
All decked in white
Doyle Crosby keeping time
Grandma Pearl with the Knauff fan
In the cicada loud night
I'd take old Pilgrims Rest
Now in Sopchoppy
Move it from that garish spot
On Rose street
Find a shady old oak home place
By the dark river bank
Cut that dog trot back to its former size
Find those two Camilla bushes
John Towles gave to Lucille
As a wedding gift
Replant them at the foot of
The front steps
Where they grew so long
One bearing white
The other red blossoms
Surround the home with
Scuppernong grapes and Bradford pears
Persimmons for possums
Blueberries galore
Just as it was
With a Georgia red sugar cane patch out back
The Golden mill
The 60 gallon Columbus kettle
Which is kept in storage
Restored to grind come November
As I remember
And the old stolen Gravely tractor
Surely with means
Find one like it
Restored of course
To its former glory
Just as I recall so often
Lord
Grant it?
I know
Silently you watch it all rust and
Fall to the ground
So unconcerned with such
Dreams of means.
