Two paragraphs from John McPhee's
The Pine Barrens converted into poetic form
One
The Pine Barrens once had their own particular witch
Pineys put salt over their doors to
discourage visits from
The Witch of the Pines, Peggy Clevenger
It was know that she could turn herself into a rabbit
for a dog was once seen chasing a rabbit
and the rabbit jumped through the window of a house
and there-in the same instant, in the window-stood Peggy Clevenger
On another occasion, a man saw a lizard
and he tried to kill it with a rock
when the rock hit the lizard it disappeared
and Peggy Clevenger materialized
and smacked the man in the face
Clevenger is a Hessian name
Peggy lived in Pasadena
another of the now vanished towns
about five miles east of Mt. Misery
It was said that she had a stocking full of gold
Her remains were found one morning
in the smoking ruins of her cabin
but there was no trace of the gold
Two
Peggy lived in Pasadena
another of the now vanished towns
about five miles east of Mt. Misery
It was said that she had a stocking full of gold
Her remains were found one morning
in the smoking ruins of her cabin
but there was no trace of the gold
The Pine Barrens once had their own witch
Pineys put salt over their doors to
discourage visits from
The Witch of the Pines, Peggy Clevenger
It was know that she could turn herself into a rabbit
for a dog was once seen chasing a rabbit
and the rabbit jumped through the window of a house
and there-in the same instant, in the window-stood Peggy Clevenger
On another occasion, a man saw a lizard
and he tried to kill it with a rock
when the rock hit the lizard it disappeared
and Peggy Clevenger materialized
and smacked the man in the face
Three
We had come to a clearing house
where thousands of blueberry bushes grew
In the center of it was the packing house
a small, low building with open and screenless windows on all sides
In front of it was a school bus marked "Farm Labor Transport"
The driver stood beside his bus
He was a tall and amiable looking man with bare feet
He wore green trousers and a T-shirt
The end of the working day had come
Pickers were swarming around a pump
old women, middle-aged men, a young girl
A line was waiting to use an outhouse near the pump
Inside the packing house, berries half and inch thick were
rolling upon a portable conveyor belt
and, eventually, into pint boxes
Charlie's sister was packing the boxes
Charlie's daughter-in-law was putting cellophane over them and
Charlie's son Jim was supervising the operation
Charlie picked up a pint box in which berries were mounded high
and he told me with disgust that some supermarket chains
knock off the mounds of extra berries and put them in new boxes
getting three or four extra pints per twelve-box tray
At one window, pickers were turning in tickets of various colors
and they were given cash in return
One picker who appeared to be at least in his sixties
tapped Charlie on the arm and showed him
a thick packet of tickets held together with a rubber band
"I found these," the man said
"They must have fallen out of your son's pockets"
He gave the packet to Charlie
who thanked him and counted the tickets
Charlie said "These tickets are worth seventy-five dollars."
I don't think the last poem has to be reworked in order to make sense. It has a thematic center and begins by describing the area outside, goes inside and then finishes back outside.
