There’s a gnome in the woods below my house.
He stands by a stump as quiet as a mouse.
He’s solid as rock, short and firm
Below the hill beside a berm.
He has a basket on his shoulder
And a warm overcoat as the air grows colder
He leans his back against the wood
Looking like all the world is good.
His warm knit cap is pointed and red
And rests upon his dwarven head
Hair and beard wave and flow
On shoulders and chest as white as snow.
His boots have sunk into the loam
From standing still for oh so long
His belt is black around his waist
To hold his jacket in its place
Pants of green look worn but still
Weather storms and wind and chill
He looks content as there he stands
He seems to have no other plans
A clutch of flowers in his old left hand
Seems out of place in the wooded land.
But he’s stood there and held them for so long
It would seem strange if they were gone.
He watches the woods with stony eyes
As slowly the days have drifted by
Seasons come and seasons go
Summer sun and winter snow
I wonder what goes through his mind
As he stands in the woods lost in time
As his brilliant colors fade with age
Each day turning like a page
He’s seen the years both day and night
As squirrels, and deer, and time pass by
He doesn’t move, he doesn’t speak
He has no vision to go and seek
He spends his years quite alone
But doesn’t know how they have flown
Only I have seen those years
That he has stood in silence here
I sometimes pass him as I go
He doesn’t hear and doesn’t know
His smile is always there for me
But his ears can’t hear and his eyes can’t see
There’s a gnome in the woods below my house.
He stands by a stump as quiet as a mouse.
I say hello as I wander by.
And smile at the humor in his little eyes
© October 20, 2022
James L. Frady
