Lucien Stryk - "South" - Poem

Walking at night, I always return to

the spot beyond

the cannery and cornfields where

a farmhouse faces south among tall trees.

I dream a life

there for myself, everything happening

in an upper room, reading in sunlight

talk, over wine

with a friend, long midnight poems swept

with stars and a moon. And nothing

being savaged

anywhere. Having my fill of that life,

I imagine a path leading south

through corn and wheat,

to the gulf of Mexico. I walk

each night in practice for that walk.

                       -- Lucien Stryk
 (Great Zen Poet's Reflection)