—: Old Burying Ground :—

A thin gray stone
crumbling and worn
leans over a rectangle of daisies
and tall grass.

“Orena
Consort of………………
Born Ap…… ..2, 1798
D….. ………..1845
May her sou. r…… in peace.”

An aspen drips
thin yellow leaves

From somewhere above
comes the shrill piping
of a mocking bird.

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M.R. Lowe (p. 1928) studied at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and published in the Prairie Schooner, the school’s literary magazine, edited by Maurice Johnson. Other poets appearing in the journal included Chou Han and Marion Edward Stanley, who went on to publish in Poetry magazine, and interview numerous well-known poets, including William Butler Yeats and Carl Sandburg.

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