Pen in hand I return to Pennsylvania hills
to straddle stone fences,
to thread thickets,
to note which hickories will survive the dozer,
and where the graceful driveway will turn.

My mind is in the task,
balancing the destruction,
imagining the creation,
but my heart is nearby in the back seat of a '49 Chevy
wending dusty summer roads.

A brother to each side,
I touch chatter,
stretch to see more than tree tops.
Excited parents seek some tiny road
passing a home half-built by vague cousins.

My father speaks unanswered bursts about
strong Chevys on dirt roads;
my mother intones,
wishing we were a month ealier
to share the mountain laurel.

What fences to take down?
What thickets to explore?

1. Keep stone fence from laurel to the road.
2. Protect plants in muddy spots - all the dogwood.
3. Wait for summer - explore the marsh.