As the sponsor of poetry readings, the founder of a literary magazine, and a publisher, George Van Deventer is longstanding champion of poetry in Maine. This week’s column shows he is also a poet.

Early Morning Trumpet — for Gabe 
by George V. Van Deventer 

On occasion, leaving the barn

after milking, I’d hear

my neighbor’s son down the valley,

across the stream, play

his trumpet as if he were thinking out loud, moving

in the privacy of his thoughts.

I’d stop as if it were a call to prayer

and follow his flight,

as I would follow a nuthatch

piping from tree to tree —

a personal song

unfolding around me.

 

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