A Field of Blue Cohosh (From 'The Band' Covers)

Side 1, Track 3

After a silent drive down from the mountains,

cold misty December morning, I am waiting

with other muted, suddenly insignificant others

in a cancer hospital in New Jersey, my sweetheart

being poked and probed somewhere for nefarious

cells run amok, nothing to do but poke back

at this keyboard, searching for an exit to veer off

this one-way highway, black ice everywhere,

foot barely touching the brake as I follow taillights

down a ramp toward some unforeseen location

where I’d park on the shoulder, get the basket,

baguette, bottle of red, from the trunk, then wander

into a field of blue cohosh, goldenrod, pink lady’s

slippers, where we spread a frayed quilt. Eat. Drink.

—SL, New Paltz,NY, January 2022-

Port Royal, SC, February 2022