THE ONE ABOUT THE FARMER’S DAUGHTER
PAUL TELLES
She’s heard them all, but still can’t
Say why she keeps falling
For gaudy grins and cocked straw hats.
She thinks she’s not too bright,
Lying awake while her father’s house
Groans with disapproval
And his winter wheat shushes
The sky. This evening, she repeated
Her famous mistake, but none
Who laugh at the tired retellings
Will ever know how glad she was
To have him or how glad she was
To have him leave. For now, she has
Only her father’s raging snore
And darkness she’s learned to face
By smiling to herself.
Paul Telles’s poems have appeared in several online and print publications, including Book of Matches, Rat’s Ass Review, Pif Magazine, and BoomerLitMag.