Almost there!
Try to keep up!
Watch out you don't trip on that root!
Okay, now let's get through this clearing...
past this clump of pines...
slip between this belt of aspens...
and...ta da! there it is!
There, on the prairie's edge.
See it? That building there?
Dark.
Squat.
Invisible.
(Almost.)
Clapboarded.
Haunting.
Move closer.
Go.
See?
See on the sides, the many, many jagged shards of pale crimson
stranded lucklessly in the triumphant roiling grey,
with waves of (oh, wow, look at 'em) tall sepia grasses cascading up against them?
Yup, I'm a poet and I know it!
Yeesh, winds are a bit strong today!
So...
wanna go in?
Ha ha!
Actually before we do
let's pull down some of this plywood
off of a few of these windows, okay?
Get some light into the joint.
Gotta wade though the grass a bit hereSNAKE!!
Just kidding! Sorry!
Alright, now up the steps,
push down this old door 'cause it's really loose
and...
Hole.Lee.Shee-it!
There's more grass in here than there is outside!
And it's greener!
And tall!
Woof! Helluva wet grass and ancient wood smell combo up in here!
Can you see any desks?
Are there any desks?
Ah, wait, there are, but...eww!
I see a big hole in the ceiling, too.
Guess we know how's there's grass growing in here, right?
I can see the blackboard from here,
and some cursive...
big a, small a...big b, small b...etcetera, etcetera...
wow, know anyone who writes like that anymore?
With loops and whorls,
with measured grace and flow,
harmony and cadence?
Beautiful.
Hey,
let's pretend a moment.
Listen to the kids
laughing and shouting,
a ringing school bell
(a handbell of course)
gently wielded by their lovely schoolmarm,
summoning them all
inside here
for another day
of vigorous,
ceaseless learning.
Here they come,
and here they are.
OH HEAR THE NAMES!
(sorry)
Nellie
Charlie
Mary
Pete
Jennie
Joe
Lucy
Harry
Christina
Ole,
etcetera,
all taught by Miss Belinda Fields
(how's that? they sound real enough?)
And what would she teach them?
What would they learn?
How's about...
the topographic and geologic features of Bessarabia,
how to figure the 1903 Farm Tax using only fractions (fractions!),
the lives, loves, deeds and exact reigns of all the Danish and Saxon kings of England
(to begin with, of course),
and oh, don't forget all the Latin:
amo,amas,amat...
alea iacta est...
veni,vedi,vici...
Senatus Populesque Romanus...
sic transit Gloria mundi...
Hm?
You wanna leave?
Yeah, I know the smell is-...could we stay a bit longer please?
A few shades more.
Thanks.
Now imagine
if perhaps some of those little girls
returned here as young women
to visit their teacher
in this little schoolhouse
to thrill her with news
about jobs, engagements,
weddings, babies
and some of those young men
return as young men
to gaze long and sadly
at this little schoolhouse
before they shipped out
for Hell
to lick ol' Kaiser Bill
and then years later
the fatherless (or not)
sons of these men
did the exact same thing
before they shipped out
for Hell, Part II
to lick ol' Adolph and company
(though I can't imagine these men
tasting very good!)
and then Miss Fields...
why, what happened to her?
Well, seeing as how ladies
who are called 'Misses'
sometimes end up
being 'Mrs.'
...she exited out this door
to raise her own brood,
maybe sending them here
until she noticed they were erecting
a nice, new, sturdy red brick school building
in town...
and...so...
We can go now.
Don't know about you,
I've had my fill of winds and ghosts today.
The bell clapper is rusted,
all the slates are broken,
the Whip has been Cracked...
no, it won't be here
in another hundred years.
Don't be silly.
Let's go.
sic transit Gloria mundi...
Music: 'Ashes to Ashes' by The Fifth Dimension
DB/4.2018
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