‘The Cabin’: A Poem by Nathaniel Todd McKee

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The Cabin

_Atop the plateau’s rise,
__I’m homeward bound,
When sights familiar strike my eyes.
Come with me—see the scenes I’ve found.

_Turn right off highway 8,
__Mount Pleasant Church,
Then left, then right, then through the gate
Of Dunaway to start your search.

_Continue, down the hill
__Descend, veer right
Around the lake with waters still,
Where mist lies softly in the night.

_Stay left at Trilium
__And soon you’ll see
Familiae Domicilium,
The cabin, fount of memories.

_The bunkroom is where all
__We cousins ranged,
And listened to rain’s gentle fall
While jokes and stories were exchanged.

_The dinner bell would ring
__And in we’d crowd
To eat, and in this gathering
We’d visit, joyous voices loud.

_And once, we timed it right,
__By snow shut in,
Were forced to stay an extra night,
As crackling fire warmed up the den.

_Down to the lake we’d go
__Canoes to race.
Steer right to see where lilies grow,
Or left to find that peaceful place.

_But when the summer heat
__Our skin did bake,
In fish-filled streams we’d bathe our feet,
Or swim for hours in this same lake.

_We filled our days with fishing,
__Mountain bike rides;
Clay pigeons, handgun and rifle shooting
Or whizzing around in side-by-sides.

_Sometimes, in smaller groups,
__We hunted quail,
With pointers running in skillful loops
And flushing birds up from their trails.

_‘Twas priceless time I spent,
__This much is clear,
When only I and Papa went
To hunt for big-racked, rutting deer.

_Fair Bethany changed my life
__Nigh that cascade
Of water, agreeing to be my wife
Under the woodland’s pleasant shade.

_Deep mem’ry is, I find,
__A funny thing:
Most days it isn’t top of mind,
Then rushes on me, tears to bring.

_Just as the rains will fill
__Some stone-ringed well,
Until the water, brimming, spills
And o’er the well-built boundary swells.

_So I, with outstretched hand,
__Pass by the turn,
As if my fingers could demand
From time more memories to learn.

_For soon it’s far behind,
__This special place.
The road continues, and I find
That most good mem’ries have a face.

_If God is love, then love
__Eternal is.
Love’s mem’ries God will store above
Till he can fully share what’s His.

_So never think them vain,
__Love’s memories
That you see through your rearview pane.
It’s how we taste eternity.

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Nathaniel Todd McKee lives in the Appalachian foothills of Southeastern Tennessee, where he is a Financial Manager. 

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