POETRY
Wind Chimes in October
by R. Virgil Ellis
get distant as windows shut.
They speak in undertones, diffident.
I'll try to explain.
A dinghy pitches
and leans. A buoy
pings against the fog.
In the village everyone daydreams.
The absent-minded sexton
rings random events.
Dad driving streetcars in the thirties
stepped on a foot-pedal
to clang the tracks clear.
When he died, a toll
for every year. We listened
into silence.
That's enough to force
open the door.
The ringer on its thong
strikes umber and gold.
R. Virgil (Ron) Ellis lives near Cambridge, Wisconsin. He is Associate Editor of Rosebud magazine as well as its art director and web author. He has numerous print publications as well as CDs and DVDs of his performance poetry. His most recent release is a CD entitled The Story of Andro: A Rock Cantata. He can be reached at ronellis@direcway.com.