Ditch Rider's Sunday Poem: Tamra Hays

From Duke City Fix:

Tamra Hays, that wonderful poet from Mountainair, continues to write with simple elegance in brilliantly chosen metaphors. She finds her way so deftly from first word to last. You will enjoy this short, personal reflection.

After teaching in the Duke City for over 20 years, Tamra Hays and her husband, Michael, began to teach in international schools. They now split their time between Istanbul, Turkey and Mountainair, New Mexico.

Both Sides of the Tracks

Like the farmer who tends this bit of railway easement,
I am of two minds.

On the steep side, rampant blackberries scramble up the bank,
poke their thorny fingers through and over the concrete picket fence,
a gray and uniform device, tough as rails and ties.
What a thicket of danger and desire.

On the level side, tiny shacks—one for tools, one for chickens,
one for baskets and barrels—bound orderly plots
of winter vegetables—cabbages, artichokes, hardy greens.
All prudence and planning.

--Tamra Hays