tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228007032024-03-13T12:22:25.182-04:00Midwestern PoetryPoetry about Indiana, the Midwest, Real Life, Real People......for Real People.Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-62600693016857914492012-07-18T08:15:00.001-04:002012-07-18T08:15:34.485-04:00American Soldier.wmv<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ze763FzJMj8?fs=1" width="459"></iframe>Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-34453653646777409932012-07-06T07:57:00.000-04:002012-07-06T07:57:33.775-04:00GemsGems<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
“Diamond” Moore stepped carefully across freshly planted rows of corn; his boots pressing into soft soil releasing the scent of wet earth. Early April was often rainy except these rare sunny days, when a hint of summer was carried on the breeze from the west. The bright sky was filled with high clouds whose shadows raced across the fields in front of him as he walked. As a child, spring meant that school came to an end and he went to work for his father on the farm. Always difficult, he would say good bye to his friends, and his summer was spent wiping sweat from his brow in the center of a field just like this one.<br />
<br />
His trips to the fields were now only the occasional walk. Early morning rides on an old International, black smoke belching from the stack, and an umbrella covering his head seemed recent when they were actually a wrinkle in his memory. He hadn’t farmed in twenty years, a link to his past broken by a string of bad luck when he was in his late forties. A drought, a foreclosure, and a second career as a machinist in Auburn had carried him to retirement. <br />
<br />
Today was his anniversary. A day for his best bibs and favorite seed cap. A day that he sprinkled a little extra Old Spice on his collar. A day for the flower shop followed by the slow drive of a farmer thinking his way down gravel roads. The slow rusted Ford, barely kicking up dust, rolled to a stop near the edge of a field that held an ancient brick building in its northeast corner. One hid by vines and volunteer pines. One that the locals knew was there, but most often went unseen by the casual traveler. It was here that he had met her. It was here that his life began.<br />
<br />
The sun aged bricks of Wilmington No.4 stood tall covered in thick ropes of ivy. A slab of Bedford Limestone still carried the year, 1902, when neighboring farmers had worked together to build the school. Their wives had gathered under some oaks to the east, talking and preparing lunch from covered baskets that they had brought with them. The bricks, bright red then, climbed slowly upward, carefully measured and leveled to form the walls. Men that worked in wood carefully planed raw lumber to build the window frames. The native pine was now cracked and beginning to rot, but the walls still proudly stood tall while holding the slate shingle roof. Time had eaten at the slate, here and there on the ground, lay broken shingles that were slowly melting into the earth from which they had been harvested. <br />
<br />
Diamond paused and caught his breath with his right hand resting on the door frame. Each year the walk seemed to take a bit longer and wore him out just a bit more. His breath whistled slightly as it passed his lips. Smiling, he could almost hear her calling to him, “Is that my little Gem?” They had been so young then, and today he felt how long ago that really was.<br />
<br />
Ruby was no farm kid; her white dress and black patent leather shoes proclaimed that this was not her choice; she’d rather be back in Fort Wayne surrounded by busy streets and large department stores. Despite her constant protests, Ruby’s father had moved his family to the country when the local doctor had passed away. Her eyes moved from one dirty face to another, pausing momentarily to meet Diamond’s, then on as the teacher introduced her from the front of the class.<br />
<br />
His heart felt funny, sort of an ache, kind of jumpy while she told the students that she had no siblings, and that she hoped to get back to the city soon. She didn’t want to leave her friends but since she was only ten her parents gave her no choice. Even as she made it clear to them all that she had no desire to know them, he was lost in her black curls and emerald eyes. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and soon he wouldn’t be able to see her much. He would be in the fields while she continued to attend school. He might catch glimpses of her on Saturday nights in town but then, so would all of the other boys. He was ready to fight at the thought.<br />
<br />
Ruby had cast a spell on him. He thought of her during class, he dreamed of her while chopping wood, and he prayed that God would make her his just before closing his eyes at night. He sat on a fence rail at recess, watching her read under a tree while the other children played and pretended not to notice her snubbing. They ignored her; playing and laughing extra loud to show her that they didn’t care that she refused to participate in their games. She looked beyond the pages of her book, beyond the dirt yard where jump rope and marbles were played, to a fence row where a stout farm boy sat on the fence. His gaze never leaving her direction; it held the blank look of being lost. She had to hide the grin that wanted to sneak across her lips.<br />
<br />
When summer arrived and he was working in the fields, Ruby would often stroll by on an errand. She admired the young man as he guided the tractor down the rows of beans. She dared not look him in the eye as he came towards her, ignoring his greetings and waves. Inside her heart was reaching out to him, at times straining so hard it felt it might break. <br />
<br />
She may have always seemed just out of his reach to Diamond had it not been for a sprig of mistletoe. The little green weed had been hung from the doorway and they had found themselves passing through together. He smiled and looked to the top of the doorframe remembering the soft touch of her lips and how his heart had raced. It was a feeling that each of her kisses had brought over the decades, even in her final days. <br />
<br />
Stepping into the classrooms dark interior, he stopped to allow his eyes to adjust to the dim light. Student chairs tossed into piles slowly came from the shadows showing their age by wearing coats of dust. He could see their pair of chairs near the window, still holding his gift from the year before.<br />
<br />
Removing dried stalks wrapped in green tissue, the skeletons of Baby’s Breath protested then broke into dust as his hand closed around them. He pulled the long dead daisies to his nose but could only catch the scent of time. The fresh bouquet took their place on the worn seat.<br />
<br />
In the afternoon light, he stepped to the window frame and ran his hand down its scarred surface. He could feel the indentations he had carved with his Barlow knife, marking the years that they had been together, each surrounded by a heart. Moisture gathered in the corner of his eye when his index finger felt the numerals with no heart; the years since she had passed. <br />
<br />
Until then, each April the two of them had come out together, marked the anniversary on the window frame, and then held each other in the dying light. They would slowly turn while watching the others eyes. A slight grin would creep onto her lips as she waited for the moment that Diamond would bellow, “it’s time to shine!” and begin to spin her slowly while scatting his version of Big Band music. His shaky baritone mixed with her high laughter would echo off the rafters and through the holes in the roof of the old schoolhouse.<br />
<br />
There would be no dance today, only a swallow, a sigh and the sound of an old man fighting back tears in a dark room while he sat on a dusty child’s chair. His shining eyes looking through the dusted glass of the window searching for a smile in the dusty corners of his memory. Gnarled fingers pulled open the blade on his Barlow knife. His hands shook slightly as they set to work making their mark, while “Moonlight Serenade” began to creep from his lips.<br />
<br />Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-60452541315151017752012-07-01T08:51:00.000-04:002012-07-01T08:54:09.618-04:00Dekalb County in the MistHay’s sweet scent hanging<br />
In the crystals caught in the light<br />
Of a sun not yet risen. <br />
They climb the plumes<br />
Of spent breath jettisoned<br />
Above impatient hooves that tear<br />
Hard brown sod exposing<br />
The earth’s heart to the ghost<br />
Of a January sky.<br />
<br />
Phantom arms of a maple reach<br />
Far and wide to shelter<br />
Him from the morning snow.<br />
Majestic and silent,<br />
The beast and the tree,<br />
Glow in the brilliance of the new dawn.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">C 2012 Jamie McCann</td></tr>
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<br />Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-48243978732928826872011-10-20T20:39:00.002-04:002011-10-20T20:39:47.482-04:00<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8AP40f0beDY" width="480"></iframe>Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-62652791652140802702011-06-12T12:03:00.000-04:002011-06-12T12:03:42.229-04:00Great Photography at a Great Price!Finally the wait is over! The awesome Midwestern images captured by Jamie McCann are available for purchase! Buy now!!!!!!!!!!!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/75696631/country-accents?ref=pr_shop">http://www.etsy.com/listing/75696631/country-accents?ref=pr_shop</a>Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-54934855718503086532011-04-19T19:57:00.002-04:002011-04-19T20:03:48.178-04:00RustArt Deco wings have rested<br />
Long under summer sun<br />
And through the sleet<br />
Storms of late March.<br />
<br />
Nestled near the roof<br />
Of a freight car<br />
They no longer glide<br />
Down hot asphalt humming<br />
While passing roadside<br />
Fruit stands and pausing<br />
For red lights at midnight<br />
In small towns that ride<br />
The path of the Wabash River.<br />
<br />
Time and chemistry mock<br />
Crimson tears that run<br />
From the wing tips<br />
Down the ribbed sides <br />
Of the steel box causing<br />
Me to ask<br />
What has become of <br />
Tomorrow.Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-45926069381386483742010-12-29T07:33:00.000-05:002010-12-29T07:33:41.551-05:00The Photo Shoot “Ready?” her crouching husband called. Their son, Willie, stood by her side, playing with Roscoe their Weiner dog. She wore a sweater, and had insisted the guys wore jackets. The bright sky had the crisp bite of autumn in it, and meant only one thing there in Auburn: the Fair was coming.<br />
<br />
“Smile”. The camera flashed, its white light blinding her.<br />
<br />
Suddenly there was her husband, still crouching, but this time younger, wearing his favorite denim jacket, his hair longer and fuller. They had just picnicked under a large oak near the Spencerville Covered Bridge. Slowly he reached into the pocket and pulled out the simple gold band and held it up to her. She had cried, nodded her head, and placed her hand outward…..<br />
Flash!<br />
holding the results of her pregnancy test. They had been told they would never have children. She had been sick every morning for weeks, and this seemed to be the next logical step. A trip to the drugstore, and a ten minute wait while it processed. She raised it so they both could see. Her husband cried out “Woohoo! We did it! We’re having a….”<br />
Flash!<br />
“puppy!” Willie squealed. The dark brown Dachshund puppy wearing the red ribbon on its collar yipped and licked the five year olds face. They became a tangle of child, brown fur, giggles and yips as they quickly became friends. <br />
Delighted Willie began to make a list, “ We need a leash, an’ a bowl, an’ a ball. Oh Mommy, we don’t have….”<br />
<br />
Flash!<br />
<br />
“much time.” The doctor frowned. “I’m very sorry”.<br />
<br />
Tears filling their eyes, together they asked, “How long?”<br />
<br />
“Maybe 3 months.”He paused. “I suggest you make the most memories you can with what time you have left. I’ll give you two a few moments alone.” He left the office and their world shrank around them. They held each other, grasping for each moment they had spent together, reaching for the memories not yet made, and struggled to accept that they would never see one another grow old as they had always planned. <br />
<br />
They had decided only to tell Willie that Mommy would be going away for awhile but before she did, they wanted to do all sorts of things together. Willie had frowned when he thought of his mother going on a trip, but a wide eyed smile crossed his face when he thought of all the things they could do before she went. “Adventures!” He had grinned.<br />
<br />
There had been a trip to the zoo, a big league ball game, the beach, and a long weekend of camping where they had cooked all of their meals over a fire. Last was the trip to her hometown so Willie could see where she had grown up. <br />
<br />
She remembered running down the sidewalks of downtown after school, the very ones they were posing on now. She would fly down Seventh Street, her white Keds pounding on the pavement. She would turn right, and Mrs. Moore would be walking Lilly at the corner of 6th and Main. “Hi Lilly!” she would call as she sailed by.<br />
<br />
Further down the block across the street sat Mary in front of her neighbor’s deli eating a sandwich. Her mother was a painter and had been commissioned to paint a picture of the Eckhart Library. She needed the evening light to paint by for the mood to be “just right” so Mary had to wait until after dark for actual supper. The sandwich was a little something to tide her over. <br />
<br />
At this point she would nearly be out of breath as she bounded up the steps to the old YMCA. She would spend her time swimming, and maybe playing basketball if the big kids would let her. She had always dreamed of being in the Olympics, and she knew she had to be in tip top shape if she were to make it.<br />
<br />
The memory caused her to close her eyes as a cool breeze blew her hair across her face. Smiling, she brushed the hair and the memory from her face, and looked at her husband still kneeling on the sidewalk in front of her.<br />
<br />
“Haven’t you taken enough pictures here?” she laughed.<br />
<br />
“Never” he smiled. “One more”. He fiddled with the focus. “Smile!”<br />
<br />
A small click but the blink of bright light from the flash was missing. He turned the camera over and bit his lip, “Oh, we’re out of film” he frowned.<br />
<br />
And nearly out of time, she thought. Her hands drew Willie close, and while hugging him, she closed her eyes, the small smile still on her lips.Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-86169240933298399862010-12-12T18:31:00.000-05:002010-12-12T18:31:51.142-05:00FlightRed cardinal resting<br />
On the twisted branch<br />
Of the overgrown evergreen that hides<br />
My neighbor’s garage.<br />
<br />
Framed with frost <br />
On my window,<br />
He calls <br />
Into the soft blue rhythm<br />
Of falling snow<br />
On this Sunday morning,<br />
Reminding the pines<br />
That the days of summer hide<br />
In the dust of our memories.<br />
<br />
His pointed head tilts<br />
Side to side<br />
As he celebrates the rising <br />
Sun.<br />
His chattering drowns<br />
His hunger.<br />
<br />
Spreading his wings,<br />
Small avalanches fall <br />
From the branch<br />
When he lifts into the air<br />
In search of summer <br />
And cracked corn.Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-29928905602156135512010-10-10T08:07:00.002-04:002010-10-15T05:37:22.313-04:00Mothers KeeperA Redwing boot rests<br />
On a stump that guards the drive<br />
To a field off County Road 75.<br />
Arms wrapped in muscle<br />
Balance on a denim knee<br />
Steam rising from a ceramic mug<br />
Eyes squinting through mist<br />
At the ocean of dying <br />
Bean stalks stirring<br />
In a gentle wind carrying<br />
October.<br />
Another early morning,<br />
Rising before he’s rested.<br />
He grunts, spits on the ground<br />
And wonders why?<br />
<br />
No college, no summers abroad,<br />
Only early rain<br />
And crops too long in the field,<br />
Rotting, dark and useless.<br />
All nighters in the cab of a combine,<br />
Deer darting<br />
Away from the blades that chew<br />
Cobs and stalks,<br />
The fine chafe clinging to his beard.<br />
Spring loans that own<br />
Him and his family.<br />
Fall harvests that rescue<br />
Them, leaving them little<br />
To survive on.<br />
Why?<br />
<br />
A starling calls<br />
From the branches of a Hackberry<br />
Tree at the edge of the beans<br />
And his father appears<br />
Behind his eyes.<br />
<br />
Dads grizzled chin,<br />
White whiskers revealing<br />
Seasons past<br />
In the field and life<br />
Whisper of hard days <br />
And long nights.<br />
<br />
Crows feet connecting<br />
His eyes to his<br />
Smile,<br />
Earned with sweat in scalding sun,<br />
His hat resting<br />
On the seat of his International,<br />
Speak of each past due bill, <br />
Broken plow blade,<br />
And nights watching frost form<br />
On the crops in an early September dawn.<br />
<br />
Faded bibs hang<br />
Loosely on his thin frame,<br />
The right knee covered <br />
With a blue patch that hides<br />
A spot worn through.<br />
The same bibs worn to weddings<br />
So money was there for football fees<br />
And gas money for away games.<br />
<br />
Dads gray hair stealing<br />
The dark haired stranger<br />
Mother fell for,<br />
Curls slightly under<br />
At the collar of an old flannel shirt.<br />
The cowlick that cocks<br />
To the right still bouncing<br />
With the shake of his shoulders<br />
As a punch line hangs in the air<br />
At the feed store.<br />
Dads pride shining <br />
On the steps of the grain elevator,<br />
Weigh slip in his hand,<br />
As trucks lined up and waited<br />
For their turn on the scales,<br />
Awarded another year on the family farm.<br />
Why? His father called<br />
From the beans and the mist.<br />
Because the earth claims<br />
Us all in the end,<br />
But chooses only a few<br />
To be its keeper.<br />
<br />
The answer hanging<br />
In his face,<br />
He wiped the back<br />
Of his hand across his lips, <br />
Turned, climbed to the seat<br />
Of Dad’s International,<br />
Pressed the starter with his toe,<br />
A belch of black rising<br />
From a stack covered by a Folgers can<br />
As the tires pulled<br />
Him into the rows of golden plants.Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-60777951307655962242010-09-25T11:01:00.000-04:002010-09-25T11:01:48.272-04:00Thursday Night and the Baltimore PikeSouthern Pennsylvania,<br />
The bricks of storefronts<br />
From the Civil War radiate<br />
Mid-day heat <br />
Into the autumn evening.<br />
<br />
Windows bathe<br />
In the soft light<br />
Of long bulbs in high places.<br />
Calvary swords, moth eaten<br />
Kepis, and dirty Confederate <br />
Bills lounge<br />
On green velvet waiting<br />
For their buyers to be found.<br />
<br />
Lifelong lovers,<br />
Their silver hair shining,<br />
Wait in line while chatting,<br />
As a man in a red vest checks tickets<br />
And grants them permission to board<br />
A double decked bus<br />
Painted white with scenes<br />
Of struggle emblazoned on all sides.<br />
<br />
A quiet wooden bench stands<br />
At the base of the stairs<br />
To the Wills house.<br />
It guards the entrance<br />
Of where Lincoln slept,<br />
His address freshly written<br />
For the souls and the survivors<br />
Of three bloody days.<br />
<br />
It’s here that I sit,<br />
As night envelopes<br />
The roof tops and crawls<br />
To the streets<br />
Slowly heading down the Baltimore Pike,<br />
Bringing rest to the fields<br />
Where the spirit of America sleeps<br />
With its brothers that lie<br />
Beneath red Pennsylvanian soil.Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-75384331393875172742010-09-25T08:56:00.005-04:002010-09-25T10:26:12.492-04:00The High Water Mark 6:45 AM<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">September 23rd,</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Dawn has arrived</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">No one has told the crickets,</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Their cadence echoes through the fog like distant cannons.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Soft mist brushes</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">My cheeks and covers</div>My hands.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Autumns colors hiding<br />
Fog rolls like soft silk<br />
Across the weed covered<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Ground, around the boulders,</div>And through the spokes <br />
Of cannon wheels.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I feel the hills <br />
I cannot see.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Their arms surround the space</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">That saved our country.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Those hills hold</div>The souls of brothers<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Fathers, and sons</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Sacrificing themselves in early July</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So long ago,</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">That today I may stand</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Free, thankful,</div>American.<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_81CloX26A-Q/TJ3zqiYFlyI/AAAAAAAAAA0/ASO-KcqBhTw/s1600/DSC00294.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; height: 183px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 231px;"><img border="0" height="150" px="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_81CloX26A-Q/TJ3zqiYFlyI/AAAAAAAAAA0/ASO-KcqBhTw/s200/DSC00294.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-65597041901921494812010-07-21T20:09:00.002-04:002010-07-21T20:12:37.792-04:00Searching for Home (Poem Audio)<OBJECT id=BLOG_video-e1d9656d289eb15d class=BLOG_video_class width=320 height=266 contentId="e1d9656d289eb15d"></OBJECT>Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-70072679890683442122010-06-13T07:17:00.000-04:002010-06-13T07:18:31.151-04:00Truck Stop 1997By the side of the road<br />Red neon wills itself<br />Onto gravel and crabgrass.<br />Midnight Millers and Gypsies<br />Catch its ride, blinded<br />By its beauty.<br /><br />Sweat is slow here,<br />Thick and dusty.<br />Rising, reflecting the moon<br />And falling on shirt collars.<br /><br /><br />Late night land of name tags,<br />Ball caps and <br />Poker machines.<br />NASCAR magazines and <br />Hank Williams Jr.<br />A State trooper sips coffee<br />From a white mug with a green<br />Real estate ad on it.<br /><br />They are the moment<br />With the hissing of air brakes and the smell <br />Of burning diesel,<br />Lot lights wink off chrome trim,<br />As eighteen wheels hum on the interstate.<br /><br />Cheap china calls<br />Into the morning,<br />A sleepy cook rings a bell,<br />Stained place mats and chipped Formica.<br />A salt shaker that’s always half full sits<br />Near a red eyed Canadian that stares<br />At dry eggs<br />While a bus boy swabs the floor.<br /><br />Past a sign that reads<br />“Gents” is where they live.<br />Into the den of the late night poets.<br />Their words line the walls,<br />Supporting a cracked mirror and<br />A shoe shine machine that’s<br />Out of Order.Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-17110646201311159312010-06-13T07:06:00.000-04:002010-06-13T07:07:37.191-04:00Thank youCords of purple veins fed<br />His fingers through the laces<br />Of his patent leather shoes.<br /><br />A horsehair brush whispered <br />Across the green wool jacket lying<br />Over a wooden chair, <br />It’s brass buttons winking<br />With each turn of the ceiling fan.<br /><br />A navy blue Legion cap, <br />Trimmed in gold braid,<br />Defied gravity, <br />Leaning to the right, <br />Resting on oily white curls.<br />It called to the confidence <br />Of a youth so many years missing.<br /><br />Gone now are the lines of angry<br />Farm boys standing in their boxers,<br />A doctor smoking a Camel and<br />Calling out their names.<br /><br />Gone are frosted mugs of Pabst <br />And the sounds of Billie Holiday drifting<br />From the juke box in the corner of the PX.<br /><br />Gone are the smiles of the red haired pilot,<br />That always ate black licorice before a mission, <br />And the barracks mutt named Franky D.<br /><br />Gone is reciting the Lord’s Prayer out loud<br />While holding the broken body<br />Of a boy from Brown County near the Thames,<br />Calling for a mother he couldn’t see.<br /><br />Gone is the confetti on an autumn day<br />As new boots kicked the dust<br />Of Meridian Street,<br />While school children and politicians cheered.<br /><br />The call of robins<br />And the drone of a Piper Cub<br />Framed the words of a preacher<br />As they echoed off granite stones<br />Adorned with miniature flags.<br /><br />His emerald eyes counted<br />The silent stare of his comrades,<br />Eight in all, they stood, remembering<br />Those that lay in foreign sands, <br />The deep jungle swamps, <br />And the hills of New England.<br /><br />Speakers from a Civic caused<br />Them to pause,<br />And tears slid down his cheeks as ACDC<br />Echoed through the trees.Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-52556837641511731542010-06-05T09:51:00.000-04:002010-06-05T09:51:41.064-04:00No Harvest.wmv<object style="background-image:url(http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/zdW5648cDoE/hqdefault.jpg)" width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zdW5648cDoE&hl=en_US&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zdW5648cDoE&hl=en_US&fs=1" width="425" height="344" allowScriptAccess="never" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object>Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-34565094618865971132010-05-22T07:20:00.002-04:002010-05-22T07:24:58.849-04:00Main Street Treasure ChestExcited days,<br />The old days,<br />Cavernous slabs of cement fly<br />Under my feet,<br />Large trucks growling<br />Within an arm’s reach.<br />The shade of maples welcome<br />Here and there,<br />As I rushed from bright blistering pools<br />Of summer sun.<br /><br />Rubber sneaker soles skidding,<br />A sweat slickened arm resting<br />On the curbside mailbox,<br />The corner <br />Of Pearl and Main is where Carnegie had left <br />his legacy. <br /><br />A throat filled with cobwebs,<br />And a spear in my right side,<br />My eyes rose to meet<br />It’s solemn stare.<br /><br />Beyond the scarred but solid <br />Doors lie<br />The stairs that ascend<br />To another land.<br /><br />A land of shadows, and the smell of rubber cement.<br /><br />A land of hisses of silence<br />From a white haired lady wearing a purple shawl.<br /><br />A land of sinister sentries<br />Of oak, keepers of dreams,<br />Standing to the ceiling,<br />Their arms holding the rainbow <br />Colored spines of creatures contained <br />In dusty covers.<br /><br />A land where Thomas Paine<br />And Twain conspire<br />Around a back corner.<br /><br />A land where King’s Pennywise<br />And Thoreau’s Walden wait<br />For my dirty fingers to pull<br />Their thoughts to my eyes.<br /><br />A land where a ninety seven pound<br />Nobody slips into new skin,<br />Becoming King Tut,<br />Painting a fence for Sawyer,<br />Shooting to the outer limits of Space,<br />And smelling the smoke of the Napoleons at Gettysburg.<br /><br />Hidden in the echoes,<br />Lay my promise,<br />My hope.<br />My dreams.<br /><br />With those thoughts,<br />I place my right foot forward<br />Onto the chipped concrete step,<br />My hand resting on the wrought iron rail,<br />And my journey begins.Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-3333213930498909092010-05-16T09:13:00.004-04:002010-05-16T09:17:58.834-04:00Calling all Libraries, Indy Bookstores, and Places of EducationOn June 17, 2010 I will be performing a live reading at the Butler Public Library in Butler, Indiana. I would like to invite all members or associates of libraries, Independent Bookstores, and Schools/Universities to consider scheduling me for a reading.<br /><br />I need the exposure, and need the audiences. I want my readings to hold educational value and purpose (such as supporting a library or Independent Bookstore). <br /><br />So if you have an event or opening for a reading and would like to speak with me about it, please e-mail me at scottsprunger@hotmail.com.<br /><br />I look forward to hearing from you all.<br /><br />Thank you.Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-47991276306718711412010-05-15T08:11:00.000-04:002010-05-15T08:14:23.358-04:00Yesterday's Never GoneIt was past the time when the hour hand’s<br />Revolutions were painted with tears.<br />It was past the moment when a single red rose,<br />Resting on oak, lowered itself to be covered<br />In Indiana clay.<br />It was closer to the days,<br />Those days,<br />When I sat among scattered papers,<br />Cigarette butts, and torn photographs.<br /><br />I could feel loneliness the way I could smell<br />Spring coming to Madison.<br />The mist from Big Clifty clinging to a moss<br />Eaten maple.<br />Laughter bellowing from the sandstone that<br />Framed the sleeping brook.<br />March air kissing red cheeks,<br />Hearts skipping beats, in love with life.<br /><br />I stared out the west window for years.<br />There was the hill we once sat on in the <br />Shade of an oak.<br />A blue, wool blanket pressing the crabgrass <br />Flat while we talked, chuckled, remembered.<br />Ants formed a conga line to my ham and<br />Cheese sandwich,<br />The way tears licked their way to the<br />Corners of her smile when I bit into it.<br /><br />The path that runs through the chicken yard,<br />The path that crosses the Kissing Bridge,<br />That path that creeps past the rotted Model A<br />Ford that hobos sometimes sleep in.<br />The path when I bring her flowers,<br />The path that leads to the chipped, rusty back<br />Gate and a sign that reads<br />Rosewood Cemetery.<br /><br />It was long after we said “I do” in a white<br />Washed church with no steeple<br />To a preacher wearing a black tie.<br />It was past the time when I sat among the <br />Cattails holding a lace handkerchief bearing<br />“J.S.” in one corner,<br />While slowly turning my gold wedding band<br />Between scarred fingers.<br /><br />It was when I fell between the snow peas and <br />The sweet corn,<br />My overalls stained in black earth,<br />Wind burning the lower lids of my eyes,<br />That I saw her standing near the porch,<br />Where she’d always been,<br />Wearing a cotton dress,<br />Hanging my shirts on the line.Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-43086410006112195702010-05-07T21:45:00.000-04:002010-05-07T21:47:07.688-04:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_81CloX26A-Q/S-TCjZtbviI/AAAAAAAAAAU/cmzY8-aGyCg/s1600/searching+for+home+poster%5B1%5D.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 309px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_81CloX26A-Q/S-TCjZtbviI/AAAAAAAAAAU/cmzY8-aGyCg/s400/searching+for+home+poster%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468709760987282978" /></a>Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-57914182101437686472010-03-16T20:09:00.003-04:002010-03-21T07:31:59.323-04:00Love RichardThere she stood<br />Surrounded by wooden wheels screeching<br />Poodle skirts and saddle shoes.<br /><br />An angel under a spotlight,<br />With Tommy Roe crooning<br />To the couples in the corners.<br /><br />His scuffed loafers whispered<br />Across the oiled, ash floor,<br />Sweaty palms creased his chinos,<br />His lips covered by paper.<br /><br />Life or death came with the next<br />Hurried breath,<br />When he asked her to dance.<br />A smile, a flip of her dark hair,<br />And he was able to exhale.<br /><br />A dance that began very slow,<br />Much like a train leaving a village at midnight,<br />Gathering speed, at times<br />Calm and smooth,<br />Often switching in an instant,<br />Running wild,<br />Nearly leaving its tracks.<br /><br />And so went the dance,<br />It netted a smile, a moonlight walk in the sand,<br />On to a wedding, a few children and a career.<br />Loved ones leaving them, and a<br />Small red chested robin perched on her finger.<br /><br />A dance that has lasted 53 years.<br />Close to coming to an end many times, but<br />Blissfully going on.<br /><br />Despite the years,<br />She’s still the angel in the center of the floor,<br />Slowly turning, looking him in the eye,<br />And whispering “Yes.”.Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-30359584661655659842010-03-08T20:14:00.001-05:002010-03-08T20:19:18.252-05:00Cedar Creek and SalvationThe Second Freedom: Worship<br /><br />Cedar Creek and Salvation<br /><br />1923.<br />Hot, damp canvas<br />And a campfire.<br />Rocky soil underfoot from an Indiana creek bed.<br />The hell-fire glare of a Baptist <br />Revival Preacher wearing a black coat<br />Despite the Midwestern heat of September.<br /><br />Perched on a striped cloth <br />Folding chair,<br />Dark eyes sizing me up,<br />He demands my faults lie<br />Open on the ground for all to see.<br />His worn boots kick at them<br />As I cry to the sky that I had led <br />A good life.<br /><br />His hooked nose and <br />Scarred index finger<br />Single out the past pretense<br />Of my statement.<br />Reminding me that I still breathe,<br />And that I had lived for today not tomorrow.<br /><br />Angrily, he throws his straw<br />Hat over his shoulder,<br />Onto a path to the woods.<br />A path to righteousness,<br />A path to life,<br />And says quietly, Go, and sin no more”. <br /><br />Copyright Scott Sprunger 2010Scott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22800703.post-86375326658017527212010-03-08T20:10:00.001-05:002010-03-08T20:14:24.275-05:00No HarvestAn Ohio Blue Tip is flicked to life in a field of uncut wheat.<br />Cupped by a bulging hand covered in ashen hair,<br />it’s raised to meet a Lucky and a deep breath.<br />Smoke lingers, <br />then dives into the wrinkles brought on by sixty-seven summers.<br />Eyes of sapphire stare out across the field,<br />fixed on a clump of maples near the west road.<br /><br />Those eyes.<br />America’s eyes.<br />His eyes.<br /><br />His eyes have felt the sting of sweat<br />and the cutting edge of the harrow’s reins<br />as two nags led him across the earth.<br />His eyes have worried through framed glass,<br />darkness,<br />hail dancing on the tin roof.<br />His eyes wept under a September sun <br />as his son’s blood drained into the grass<br />from beneath an overturned John Deere.<br />His eyes laughed when Old Roy sprouted <br />quills from the end of his snout.<br />His eyes questioned the skies <br />when they brought no rain and the dirt rose like a ghost and flew away.<br />His eyes turned bitter when fields of towering corn were crushed<br />beneath the pavement of a new shopping mall.<br />His eyes choked for breath when a pink slip from the auditor<br />shoved them into the red.<br />His eyes trembled as a man in a gray suit<br />beat an auction sign into the yard using his worn shovel.<br />His eyes dimmed as friends and strangers roamed his farm looking for treasures.<br /><br />His eyes died<br />as he cast away the Lucky<br />into a field of uncut wheat, <br />turned and crept back to his home<br />within the city limits.<br /><br />copyright 2010 Scott SprungerScott Sprungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126930998085361009noreply@blogger.com1