Undated Letter to Edson Smith
Dear Sir,
I am honored, though
your strange gadgets
halted my work.
The picture you handed,
not a sketch or painting,
but magic. A photograph
of horseback riders.
Sir, I have family.
We camp near the creek
where we bathe.
If mockingbirds sing
at night, we are too deep
in sleep to hear.
Light, and the robin
wake me.
I rise to stir fire embers.
We hope for better.
My wife dreams of fabric
curtains, and so I labor.
You will be back with
my photograph at the adobe.
A lucky man I am, one
moment, trapped, forever.
Muchas gracias, Señor
After the Edson Smith Photo Collection Bernarda Ruiz Adobe
Peg Quinn has a B.F.A. in Education from the University of Nebraska and is a visual artist and educator. Her poetry and creative non-fiction have been published in numerous journals and anthologies and three-times nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Her debut book, Mother Lode, was published by Gunpowder Press in 2021. Also by this poet “Girl on a Donkey“