28 May Back 40: Montana Barn

It leans a little,
tilting north toward the Bridger Range,
its cracked, weathered boards wearing their best silver patina.

In its uselessness,
the west wind refrains from taking it down,
only teases the old barn with frequent gusts

that rattle loose the rusted tin roof,
blowing some of it down the hill
& into the creek.

If I could go back
& know the names of the horses
plodding in from the fields at sunset;

if I could smell the sweat on their wet backs
as they enter the barn for their reward,
then I would stay there, grow old, become useless.

Al Nyhart’s first book of poetry, The Man Himself, was published by Main Street Rag Publishing Company in 2019. He lives with his wife, Cheryl, in White Sulphur Springs, Montana.