Remains of the Drystack Wall

“Time Out” by Lucie Ware

What do we do now?
            The trail is narrowing…
all this by the purest chance
            no cards or leaves could predict
                       cards turned over
                       leaves turned over
                       and fallen by Roaring Run.

What do we do now?
            The question not asked
            the talk only of jobs and homes
            both so remote here where
                        the remnant wall
                        blocks the way ahead
                        with its impenetrable gap. 

What we do now
            is turn around and start down
            again, past the rhododendrons
            beginning to bud—the blue
                        reservoir the gray
                        sky the white light
                        falling between us. 

What we do is what we should
            if not what we want
            and in doing so change nothing
            but if you had asked
                        I would have said
                        pull the last stones loose
                        and roll them into the creek.

Jeff Ewing's poetry, fiction, and essays have appeared in Crazyhorse, Southwest Review, ZYZZYVA, Willow Springs, Subtropics, upstreet, Catamaran, and Saint Ann's Review, among others. His short story collection 'The Middle Ground' was published by Into the Void Press in 2019. He lives in Sacramento, California.