Life’s Relics

LIFE’S RELICS

Do you ever wonder

When looking at a relic

Why it sits rusting in a field?

What happened on that last journey?

Did it sputter and die

Leaving a family stranded

Or after a richness of adventures

Was it worn beyond repair

Left abandoned on its own

 

What stories does it wear

I have to wonder

Did it carry young lovers

To their senior prom

Or a salesman from town to town

Did it travel America

Its radio giving rhythm

As the miles rolled by

 

Who saw it new

On the showroom floor

And drove it proudly home

Did it safely carry

From the hospital

The couple’s newborn child

And did that child grow up

To sit behind the wheel

With a corsage on the seat

As he picked up his prom date

As his dad did his mom

Years before

 

Those memories are embedded

In layers of paint rusting to perfection

Its owners now are field mice nesting

Making memories of their own

 

So, as I stare down at my hands

At the relic I’ve become

I have to wonder and ponder

About my own stories

What questions does someone

who gazes at me

Silent in my wheelchair

Ask of themselves

Are they curious

As to the life I’ve lived

I wonder

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Steve Morgan
Steve Morgan

Steve Morgan is a retired landscape architect who spent most of his 35 year career in Arizona and New Mexico. His current career is giving Chautauquas or Living History performances, as Aldo Leopold. He happily calls Kingston, New Mexico his home now, nestled in the Black Range Mountains only 3 miles from the Aldo Leopold Wilderness. His writings are strongly shaped by Aldo Leopold’s love of the wild lands, with respect and compassion for the land – the soils, waters, plants and animals. Steve’s compassion for nature is evident by his strong, driving desire to open people’s eyes to the marvel and joy of experiencing the natural world.

Posts: 41

2 Comments

  1. Wonderful. Thanks you. I’m a big fan of these rusted relics & often wonder about their story…. I would love permission to use your poem in a book I’m publishing later this year…

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