Salvatore Buttaci’s poem What Time Is Left was published as part of Contributor Series 7: The Confessional Diary of Bone in December 2010.
Mountain Hike
By Salvatore Buttaci
By Salvatore Buttaci
Box lunch prepared, we hike the hills
dotted with marigolds so still
we think they’re asleep
in their green beds, deep
in woods steep with sun spill.
Ham sandwiches on wheat bread, stacked
tight beside pop cooled with ice packs,
entice us to rest.
“Let’s eat,” you suggest.
Our food blessed, we both snack.
High in trees sweet bird songs abound
as we share our meal on the ground.
How peaceful is this!
Like heaven. Such bliss
we have found that we kiss.
Stomachs full, we resume the climb
uphill while it is still daytime.
Now we feel weary;
gray shadows, eerie.
It’s nearly dinnertime.
What a pleasant poetic reminder of what sounds like a very satisfying day out.
This is a beautiful, vivid poem my friend. I could taste that sandwich and see your surroundings.
very fine use of meter and rhyme and meaning. I like the pastoral nature of this poem. It brought back some good memories for me of times similar to that in the poem. Well done.