Leath Tonino: a fine and mighty journalist, essayist and poet from Vermont.
Vermont free-lance writer Leath Tonino appreciates the natural and simple things in life. He’s a terrific writer whose essay “In Pursuit of Bird Poop” was a notable mention in 2016’s The Best American Science and Nature Writing.
He wins my vote for the poem below published in the February edition of The Sun magazine.(Link here.)
The last line with its reference to “crooked-in-the-best-sense” delighted me to no end, considering how politicians are crooked in the other sense.
“Write-Ins For President”
LEATH TONINO
I elect that bull elk in the Snake River.
I elect that raven in Canyonlands National Park.
I elect autumn moonlight on metal roofs.
I elect the strand of barbed wire that fell from the post and is now woven into the tall brown grass.
I elect the tall brown grass.
I elect my neighbors’ cat — the neighbors who are always cursing one another and screaming hateful things — because every morning he sits with me on the fire escape and watches the sunrise without meowing.
I elect the feeling of boots laced tight.
I elect potatoes cooked however.
I elect Vermont’s faded, sagging, leaning, crooked-in-the-best-sense-of-the-word barns.
If you’re new to the blog check out my book The View From Down in Poordom: Reflections on Scriptures Addressing Poverty.
It’s available at Amazonbooks.com, here, and Barnes & Noble online books.
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