country poetry & more

Good News and Bad
1946

"Look yonder at that dark old cloud.
It must be quite a storm!"
From Daddy such a statement
was some cause for alarm.
We loaded in the Buick,
drove up to Cogdills' place
where the cellar welcomed all the crew,
a cozy, friendly place.
We sat on buckets and old tires
in shadowed lantern light,
played "I Spy", sang and had a ball
as sundown led to night.
The wind grew fierce, rain spattered down
but no tornado came,
and the fear I had of twisters
has never been the same.
Back home we found a sodden house,
the tin roof full of leaks.
The four-inch rain had washed the precious
topsoil down the creeks.
But count your blessings where you can,
or count yourself a fool.
Our new dam stopped the water
and made a swimming pool!

Cora Gail Trent
www.cgtrent.com