David K. Leff, Essayist, Poet, Lecturer

Corners (poem)

Meet me on the corner—
Main and Elm,
walk and don’t walk

Turn the corner—
blockhead and deadlock,
dilemma and jackpot

Around the corner—
time and eternity,
longing and love

Backed into the corner—
hope and worry,
now and waiting

Painted into the corner—
edge and expanse,
open and enter

Blue Busses and Unlikely Barbecue

“Vermont” and “school bus” are not terms usually associated with barbecue.  But just off I-91 and a short hop from the village of Putney all three converge at Curtis’ Barbecue, the self proclaimed 9th wonder of the world.  I first discovered this Mecca for ribs and chicken serendipitously while looking to gas my pickup about twenty years ago.  It had slipped memory until recently when a similar errand took me off the big road at exit 4 and led to a reunion with what felt like an old friend.  Unlike most things recollected, it was even better than I remembered.

Ugly Flowers

Not all flowers are lovely.  Some are downright ugly.  It’s not a matter of aesthetic deficiency, but due to their poor ecological deportment, their noxious relationship to other flora.

On the banks of the Farmington River a couple days ago I found a lone trout lily with its elliptical freckled leaves and nodding yellow bell of bloom growing among emerging shoots of Japanese knotweed.  The large, plum-blushed knotweed leaves seemed sinister, a gang of bullies about to engulf one of the most enchanting and delicate spring wildflowers.