Rags, Straw, and Needlegrass

Just a little historic information to help with the reading of the poem: Around 1850 paper was made from rags, straw, and a type of needlegrass, it was called esparto paper. "to the governors beyond the river" is considered to be the first “passport” written by King Artaxerxes I during the time of the Persian Empire. It was used to secure safe passage in foreign lands. This piece is from the perspective of an aging widow remembering… Rags, Straw, and Needlegrass Sitting at my window watching you at play your small dress caught the air and flew upward, swallowing you as a flower protects its treasure when the evening approaches. Your age doubled and the dress became rags and the rags became patches. I wrote a poem on that dress. My mare was my letter to the governors beyond the river, my safe passage through lands unfamiliar beyond stone walls. She slept on a bed of straw indifferent to the stallions standing, eyes closed, unaware of their alternative. I wrote a poem on that straw. We walked in fields of needlegrass in Spain holding hands for the first time. You asked me to share forever with you. We celebrated the birth of our child, the anniversary of our union, all in the very fields that claimed you. Now, you nurture those fields and I walk among our memories. I wrote a poem on that needlegrass. My pen is poised in hand again. Black ink awaits a call to life. Rags and straw and needlegrass have become the paperon which I write. Pieces of a life blended and purified into a single sheet of white emptiness. Rags and straw and needlegrass no longer inspire me. I wrote a poem once.