The Center of Memory
by Genevieve Petty
Memory like a landscape
Ever-growing, ever-expanding world
Memory tied to place
Linked to where it happened
Edmonson the center
With rose-coloured wall surrounding
Creating beauty everytime you step in
People in cities can't understand
Falling in love with the land
Fallen in love with Edmonson County
Fallen, so that it's always beautiful
Every season, no matter what
Spring
Blooming dogwoods
Yard full of irises, jonquils and blackeyed susans
Summer
A full lake and swimming every day
Fall
Leaves of gold, auburn, orange
Song of cicadas on the wind
Winter
Ice crystals frosting the windows
Scent of sweet smokey wood stove
Walking on the bottom of the lake and searching for
arrowheads
In memory
Everything is always beautiful
Even bittersweet joy
Happiness in remembering yet knowing it is lost
Irretrivable
My land, my home
Mimosa trees and dogwood trees
Whippoorwhils, cicadas and crickets
Blackeyed susans, crappie and Papst Blue Ribbon
Canasta and Lawrence Welk
The theme from The Neverending Story
Swept back home
Down Green River, back to Edmonson
Where everything, always beautiful, happy, safe
"Oh, I could never leave this, I never could
not if I really were the only unicorn in the
world. I know how to live here, I know how
everything smells and tastes and is. What
could I ever search for in the world,
except this again?" (Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn)