Lynn D. Gilbert
At Liberty
Cool mornings, the rasping ring
of whetstone on scythe
told me Grandpa was ready
to fell the tall grass by the pond.
Barefoot I made my daily rounds of
sand pile, ditch, and mud puddle,
sassafras grove, rock garden,
Grandma's trellis of sweet peas
in all the colors of jelly beans,
the barn swallows' nest in the garage.
In the orchard I picked wild strawberries
the size of my thumb-tip.
All summer I'd hear the rise and fall
of the meadowlark's clear whistle.
Until after Labor Day
I was outdoors and free of shoes.
Bio
Lynn D. Gilbert's poems, twice nominated for Pushcart Prizes, have appeared in such journals as After Happy Hour Review, Arboreal, Blue Unicorn, carte blanche, The MacGuffin, Ponder Review, and Sheepshead Review. A founding editor of Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, she lives in an Austin suburb and reviews poetry submissions for Third Wednesday journal.