Stopping on a Gravel Road
. . . . .You are a boy.
. . . . .The sun, soon to set, its low round shining fire visible through the trees. Unlike the bright yellow of day, the amber sheen lights only small, sporadic sections of the forest-a few branches of one tree, the trunk of another. Surrounding these accents is immediate and complete darkness-not quite black, but a deep purple of faintly seen outlines. The spots highlighted in gold seem frozen, every detail clear and naked: the serrated leaves, the veins within, the full green hue. When the breeze picks-up, a gentle flutter, a call answered by the rest of the woods with a sound like rushing bay waves.
. . . . .Each leaf beckons.
. . . . .A beacon.
. . . . .Come in. Come in and join the easy peace, the gentle quiet.
. . . . .The woods are slow and constant. It grew before your birth and will stand after you are gone. In between, a slight hint of change.
. . . . .Indiscernible.
. . . . .Insects sporadically dart through the air in patterns that pay no heed to the level earth⎯curving patterns and angles. Now here, now there, now up and down-now in the light and then out again. All are wisps of shining gold until they leave the light and reveal their true colors.
. . . . .Walk. The gravel does indeed crunch beneath the feet. Under foot and weight the stones rub against each other. Each step slightly rearranges the canvas below. The stones are trucked in from some gravel pit unknown and poured along to form this loose, winding road.
. . . . .With youth, nature and magic are still intertwined.
. . . . .In the distance, you can hear your father coming. He drives his precious car slowly along the looseness, lest the impulsive gravel jump up and scratch his paint.
. . . . .Is it any mystery that he does not understand you?
John Berry earned degrees in English and Creative Writing at the University of Oklahoma and is currently an English Instructor at Bismarck State College in North Dakota. His work has been published in Windmill and in Tough Times Companion, an anthology published by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.
