Poem: Conversation with Frank

Conversation with Frank

Tell me again about

the house on twenty-first,

homey in its neat whiteness,

strong in beam, sturdy in design…

a Midwestern castle for your children.

Describe for me once more

the green of the trees

you planted, trimmed

and coddled through all the years.

Tell me once more about gazebos.

Detail for me the world you created

in your backyard, of glass and screen,

just behind the garage there.

Tell me again, Frank, of the cardinals

you wait to see,

watching with steady eyes for that flash of red.

Tell me about the hummingbirds.

how you kept their feeder filled….

Look, there's one hovering now.

Tell me about the upside down tomato plant

hanging on the clothesline pole,

surviving summer's heat.

Tell me then about summer nights

creeping in like grey gauze

while you and your wife sit,

happy in the home you created.

Are there gazebos in heaven?

Perhaps there will be soon

now that you've arrived.

Betty Benner is a poet and essayist who lives in Austin. The P-B publishes poetry by local and area writers every Monday. Send poems to Jay Furst at P.O. Box 6118, Rochester, MN 55903 or furst@postbulletin.com.