"A Dying Barn" published in YCN Aug. 2020

A Dying Barn

by Janet Sobczyk, 2020

Abandoned barn amid neatly tilled rows

 red paint worn down to gray wood

 decrepit boards broken, sagging

 vines creep up sides, to pitch of roof

 appear to hold the structure together

 wrap it in a soft green blanket

 shingles blown off in patches

 let setting rays shine through

 an orange sunburst

 like the last breath of life

 leaving an old man’s skeletal frame

 soul’s glow resilient, ascends

 follows the directional arms of steel weathervane

 its silhouette forming a cross

 pointing the way heavenward.

I wrote this poem when I saw a photo of a dilapidated barn covered in ivy with sunlight gleaming through its holes. I don't have permission to use that photo so Stephen Hassler, editor of Your Country Neighbor, was kind enough to find a great one of his own to pair with my poem. Many thanks!

Click here to read the Aug. 2020 issue of YCN