Field of Contentment and Hope, by Barbara Murphy

Photography by Joe Ripperger (USA). Contemporary.

Field of Contentment and Hope
 
A lone maple stands slightly tilted but strong
at the hill’s crest,
its green boughs dark 
against the deepening blue sky
that reaches toward heaven.
 
Wispy clouds
rise like pipe smoke
above the tree,
their whiteness balanced
by a clan of Queen Anne’s lace,
growing in the June hay field,
the sisters of silky yellow buttercups.
 
Golden stalks, 
walked upon or bedded by deer,
form a rooftop like a child would draw,
supported not by walls,
but flowers.
 
If we could scale that roof together,
and leap to the top of that hill,
what glory would we see?

Barbara Murphy

Barbara Murphy: "I am a writer, former community college professor, and loving aunt of photographer Joe Ripperger who passed away in June 2019. He and I had been working on an ekphrastic project since March 2019. I am continuing the work in Rochester, NY, along with writing short plays and essays."