Marc Darnell
Silence
I don't remember all the rain, and yet
the water took the roads, the Elkhorn river
had left its banks and headed for a bit
of village life, it rose with hush, I'd never
been more in awe in all my seven years—
nineteen-seventy-one my family
was off to a crumb motel along with leers
from folks who stayed to build a toppling levee
of bagged-up sand for a poor and dried-up town
who dammed my parents long before, said they
were so stuck-up they rarely made a sound,
but they were only shy, the toughest days
were on the school bus, kids shunned us, we
were snobs because our jeans were mended and clean.
Bio
Marc Darnell is an online tutor and custodian in Omaha, Nebraska. His latest books are Forecast: Increasing Visibility (Kelsay Books 2024) and The Mining Muse (Impspired Books 2024). He has 3 times been awarded the Academy of American Poets prize.