Barbara E. Young: Cousin Jill

I like a woman who can fall

Jack said to Jill.

But Jill, who had some Gatewelder blood,

knew there would be bruises,

and tears to mend,

and a dented bucket to find and fill

and explanations to make

again. There always were.

And if I don’t get out of here,

she told her diary that night, that hill

that bucket and that man

will re-enact me to my grave,

I know they will.

Copyright Barbara E. Young. From Heirloom Language by Barbara E. Young (Madville, 2021)

Barbara E. Young, her husband Jim and their two cats live in White Bluff, Tennessee, near Nashville.