Joseph Anderson came to the farm
late in life. A teacher,
retired, but not worn out,
going blind, but working
for his keep.
Each day when weather
and his knees allowed,
he hobbled in hay fields
and sheep pasture,
piling circles upon circles
of stones around
immovable
mother ledge.
It was not what he learned
at Williams College,
for his hands
to grow calloused
and brown.
It is the mark in the woods
where a man has been,
his scholarship
in earth and stone.
Prudy Wholey lives in Shelburne, MA, where she raises beef cattle, pigs, and chickens. She enjoys writing with long-time friends, photography, and observing the natural world.