this land

on a saturday summer

this is america

to me

the fog ghosting the shore

and this frayed house

permitting it

to me,

it translates as such;

field work

the privilege

to pull the car off at the marsh’s trim

hop out, at magic time

and make myself a picture

tomorrow, and the next

it will reveal itself in clashing forms

this land

but for now

in the seascape, outside the clam shack

dusk knocking

just this translation

… grace shed

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the 1943 publication of Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms paintings based on the 1941 State of the Union speech by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The paintings are Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. Shanti Arts has dedicated the fall 2018 issue of their journal, Still Point Arts Quarterly, to writing and art that reinterpret the Four Freedoms for today.  I am grateful to their editors for sharing This Land with their readers.  The image above (which prompted the verse) was captured in summertime along route 133 in Essex, Massachusetts. Purchase print editions of the fall issue of Still Point Arts Quarterly and download a free digital copy here...