He is seven feet tall straight vertical in fact
rides a lawn mower that looks like a grass eating
animal with a circular mouth and up reaching legs
to hang on to as it proceeds on the lawn hungry
willing to devour all the growth of clover and grass
from the last week chomping in perfect rows
down one side of the lawn making tight circular turns
then chomping up the far side never out of
stride or posture this man on the lawn mower
who when he stops the beast from grazing
looks up at the huge field stretching away from him
his own work neat and shining like an eddy before the sea
feels strangely grand before this spectacle of summer!
languor when it all falls into place to include him.
Fan Ogilvie, who was West Tisbury’s second poet laureate, lists among her accomplishments a contest in poetry for high schoolers known as Promising Young Poets, a program in poetry and playwriting in the Martha’s Vineyard House of Correction, a continuing Summer Festival in Poetry featuring readings by national and local poets, and numerous readings at various venues around the Island.
