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A Ballad of Life

—after Winslow Homer’s “Through the Fields”

They spoke of life unfolding,
A future far from home.
No more of country living—
No fields, no farms, no loam.

And so, they left for college,
But still they kept in touch
With letters always ending,
“I miss you ever much.”

The city lights were glowing
O’er crowds and happy times.
Perhaps they’ll each be noted
As one whose status climbs.

Life progressed in stages;
Some troubles, just a few.
Then each became a widow,
And suddenly they knew.

The countryside was calling—
Those fields where they had run!
They’ll dress again in cotton
With bonnet for the sun.

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Margaret Brinton has lived in San Diego’s inland valley area for over forty years where she taught and tutored. Her poems have recently been published in California Quarterly and Westward Quarterly and The Lyric with upcoming work in the greeting card industry.

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4 Responses

  1. Roy Eugene Peterson

    This seems to be a tale of two young girls who became adults, kept in touch, and when they became widows, they returned to their roots. The clue to both being women is the final two lines mentioning, “They’ll dress again in cotton
    With bonnet for the sun.” This is such a sweet sentimental poem about returning to one’s roots and once again finding child-like innocence, fun, and joy that two souls once knew.

    Reply
  2. Joseph S. Salemi

    I like the trimeter rhythm, and the fact that the odd-numbered lines of each quatrain end feminine, and without rhyme, while the even-numbered lines end masculine, and rhyme.

    This kind of simple, slow movement goes along perfectly with the subject matter, which is thoughtful and meditative. As an ekphrastic piece that is based on a work of art, it is clearly linked with the Winslow Homer picture. And the fact that the girls are timelessly young in the picture, while described as widows in the poem, suggests a cyclical homecoming of a symbolic nature.

    Reply

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