The MVC Literary Journal

-An Excerpt from Out Where the Corn Stalks Grow

Out where the corn stalks grow

And the light fades, dim

Our Bishop comes...Father walks with him

Jacob and I

Watch the lightning bugs fly

We run inside

A jar, a lid... two jars, two lids

Father, Grodaawi, & Bishop watch

With laughter in their eyes

They sit on the stone bench that

Is beside Mother's garden

They talk and laugh

As we try to catch the fireflies

Jacob, when his jar is full,

Is excited, staring at the flies

Making their light-white glow

Bishop grins and Father smiles

I discard my jar &

Settle myself in Grodaawi's lap

He tucks a few loose pieces of hair

Back inside my prayer cap

I snatch his dark hat off his head,

Giggling and twisting it beneath my hands

I push it onto my head, laughing

With childish delight

Father lends his hat to Grodaawi's head

I give him his hat back

Grodaawi kisses me sweetly

Thanking me for the return of his possession

We hear a cry of victory, of glory, of happiness

Jacob holds up his jar and proclaims

“I made an Amish flashlight!”

Labels: 2007: Belles Lettres