Wednesday, April 4, 2018

BESO, the Donkey ~








Beso and the Mailman




Beso is tired and old

but will wake up

and travel the pasture

to greet the mailman.



He carefully studies

the mouth of the box being

opened and the hand

feeding it.



I wonder if he remembers

the rum cake

my mother sent to me

last year.







Beso the Helmsman




A tide of gray fog floods

the valley floor.



Iron oaks drink their brew

with the dead and loom.



Beso measures deep waves

lifting pasture, hills,

and hemisphere,

with ancient earth legs.



The world seems unhidden.



We were marched onto this ark

a long time ago —



what was I?








Ask Beso




Are you wonderful?

Ask Beso

what he thinks about

the drinking song

he endured

when he carried you home

last night.








Beso's Dialect




Woud I know

if Beso spoke?

Maybe he has been

conversing with me

in a dialect that he

assumes I understand

because sometimes

I scratch his ears,

fetch the apple,

or leave him alone,

as requested.






Beso Keeps



Overcome by weariness,

Beso keeps to his stall.



One halfhearted ear tracks

hawks passing over the barn.






———————————

Richard Jarrette
Beso the Donkey
Michigan State University Press