<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the orchard someone else will tend to.
\nAnd the crawl space beneath the porch
\nof the house where someone else\u2019s barn cat
\nwill slumber through the summer nights
\ndreaming of long-tailed mice in the high grass.
\nOver that field, the light dips and refracts
\nthrough the broken glass of the muck pond
\nwhere a catfish will take someone else\u2019s bait
\nand hook\u2014that it might meet the refined
\nheat of a skillet. The ghosts of a thousand
\nhead of cattle walk through the woods at night
\nin someone else\u2019s dream while the windows,
\ncracked slightly, let a mild breeze pass
\nthrough the empty rooms like an appraiser.
\nThere is no death that cannot be undone
\nby simply turning the compost with a pitchfork
\nor by scattering scratch in the dirt for chickens
\nwho sing each time they lay, but every repair
\nis only a gesture against the torment of slow
\nwinds and steady rain and heavy sun. It will be
\nsomeone else who grows too old to climb
\nthe ladder into the barn\u2019s cool loft or the flight
\nof stairs that lead to and from their own bed.
\nIt will be their hand weighing the mortgage.
\nIt will be their face forgetting its smile. Listen,
\nif the well pump kicks to life at dawn, it will be
\nsomeone else drawing a bath for the last time\u2014
\njoints relaxing as their form submerges, body
\nrecovering and failing in the same held breath.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Travis Mossotti Here\u2019s the orchard someone else will tend to. And the crawl space beneath the porch of the house where someone else\u2019s barn cat will slumber through the summer nights dreaming of long-tailed mice in the high grass. Over that field, the light dips and refracts through the broken glass of the muck […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":8404,"template":"","categories":[9,49,119],"tags":[889,6,1972,201,1556],"class_list":["post-8403","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aquifer","category-literary-features","category-poetry","tag-aquifer","tag-aquifer-the-florida-review-online","tag-national-poetry-month","tag-poetry","tag-travis-mossotti"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n