Landscape with Rocks, Sky, Nails, by Judy Kaber

Kent House, by Jamie Wyeth (USA). 1971.

Landscape with Rocks, Sky, Nails

The rocks a tumble of sharp edges. 
And atop this, wedged against sky in varied 
shades of blue, the artist’s house. 
I try to keep my mind focused, 

but I find myself stuck beside a visiting 
group of students—fourth, maybe fifth grade .
The docent asks a question and the kids’ hands

sprout like foam splashed against rock, 
eager, full energy. One boy sits with his back to the group, 
elbows on knees, eyes roaming across art filled walls. 

They say Kent built the house and I can’t help 
but wonder: Did he hammer the nails himself? 
Did he turn the spindles for the porch rails? 

I read somewhere that Kent spent his time 
on Monhegan drilling wells, repairing roofs, 
emptying privies. The boy taps his feet—no good reason--

but he reminds me of Roy, a boy I tried to teach to read, 
a boy who lived in a house with a privy out back, 
a boy whose father slammed him against walls. 

Look at the painting, the way the door 
could be a piece of sky, so blue. 
And the house with its open-mouthed porch--

the sea, the wind—full of it. So many straight lines 
and nails, an artist’s house with clean light spilling 
across the floor. I remember the night 

Roy, his mother, and sister slept on my floor, 
fear tucked in their backpacks. I got up 
before dawn just to watch his chest 

rise and fall in dreadful light. In the painting: 
a rough climb, no path across the rocks. 
There must be some easier way in.

Judy Kaber

Judy Kaber's poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Eclectica, Crab Creek Review, Miramar, Off the Coast, and The Comstock Review. She is a retired elementary school teacher living in Maine.