Heart of New England

Chapter 19: SCARECROW

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About This Book

A lyric collection that moves through New England’s seasons, landscapes, and local history, blending pastoral description with folklore, legend, and occasional patriotic and religious reflections. Poems evoke shorelines, orchards, pine woods, and village life while honoring Pilgrim ancestry and the fortitude of pioneer women; other pieces imagine fairies, haunted houses, pirate lore, and convent gardens. Varied forms include children’s verses, contemplative nature lyrics, and occasional odes, united by a regionally rooted voice that balances celebration of place with quiet moral and communal meditation.

SCARECROW

Rags and tags of what he was,
Topped with straw and stuffed with hay;
Balanced tipsily askew,
It grins to scare the crows away.

I saw Him first in that old hat—
It seemed the crown of a king to me.
I liked his careless swagger then;
Lord! He was straight and fine to see.

He courted me in that same coat—
He couldn’t meet it now, I guess.
That gay vest was the one he wore
When I walked bride in my silver dress.

He seemed as proud as I, those days.
I never dreamed, when we were wed,
I’d think the Scarecrow a better man,
With a broom for a spine and a pumpkin head.

Rags and tags of what he seemed,
Mocking me in the field all day.
What can I make a scarecrow of,
To drive the hungry thoughts away?