The Story of Rugs
They cover holes in the earth
we walk upon when all else
has let us down.
Woven by elders from the
hair of sheep fresh shorn
their faces kiss our feet.
For days at a time
the old sit in silence
peddling and bobbing
to continue our line.
And so, their deaths
move us closer to the time
when no rugs are spread before us,
and their faces are worn through,
when empty spaces
fill our hearts.
.
About the Author: Larry Smith is a poet, fiction writer, and editor-publisher of Bottom Dog Press in Ohio where they feature a Working Lives and an Appalachian Writing Series. He is also the biographer of Kenneth Patchen and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. He lives in Huron, Ohio, along the shores of Lake Erie.
More By Larry Smith:
Image Credit: “Two women making rugs on porch” The Library of Congress
As It Ought To Be 