August 2024
Bio Note: I'm a poet, artist and novelist. As an author, I've published three novels and my poetry has appeared in a number of journals. My photographs, paintings and prints have been widely exhibited and are included in both public and private collections, such as The Boston Public Library; Brigham and Women’s Hospital; and The Dana Farber Cancer Institute. I consider myself fortunate to have a foot in both the visual and written arts.
Late Summer, Barton, VT.
Labrecque’s cows,
sluggish in the late summer sun,
straggle in from the back pasture,
jumble together at the rusty gate,
bored, like customers
in the check-out line
at the new Wal-Mart.
The cross-country truck driver,
who lives with his tight-lipped wife
around the bend and atop Berard Lane,
gives a long blast on his airhorn
as he rumbles by, raising dust
that, by morning, will coat
a fine skim over the mulberry leaves.
A hawk exits the stand of spruce
across the road, bisects the landscape
and with a lazy sweep of wings,
glides onto his next perch.
This day, this summer, limps along,
like the narrow road that twists
through the dim, sun-filtered forest,
snaking its way, before dropping
down to deep, dark Willoughby.
From the North, clouds stumble in
over the mountains, bringing
a cold rain that clears the air
and hints at a change of seasons.
Soon, it will be time
for me to leave this place.
Yet, I know that before I go,
there is much left to learn
about the thickening of shadows
and the thin line
that separates
where I stand today
from the unknown
road that lies ahead.
©2024 Russell Dupont
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