rows of telephone poles along the highway

crosses running parallel to a Roman road

eyes open or closed looking down from each

rows of homes facing forward numbered neatly

tombstones carved with two dates inevitably

approximate joined together only by a dash

rows of corn and squash and beans three sisters

weeping at the crossroads asking every traveler

if they have seen their lost brothers on the way

rows of tulips purple and red and green brightly

shining under an April sun asking your eyes to

follow lines of life and death and death and life

rows

Jacob Friesenhahn teaches Religious Studies and Philosophy at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio. His poems have appeared in BOMBFIRE, Burrow, Calla Press, Canary, The Lake Front, Last Stanza Poetry Journal, Litbreak Magazine, and Nostalgia Press.