Jane Poem by Connetta Jean

Over on Ridge Road
near the county line
Jane prepares herself
for a long hard winter..
Few people know
She heats her home
with a pot belly stove.
Her electric's been off
3 years last March
the winter after
her husband Fred
Got laid off...
and moved out.
Moved in with a girl
with 2 young boys
She was 19
same age as Jane
when she married Fred
32 years ago...
She gets through the winter
collecting wood
and burning newspapers
in her pot belly stove.
She cooks soup there
pops pop corn
roasts hot dogs
and brocks
through the stove door....
spends most her nights
& weekends
At the house up the road.
taking care
of Farmer Johns wife...
they buy her food
and pay the taxes
And keep her safe..
Late at night
she sits on the pourch swing
and listens to sounds
of Freds old truck
going down the lane...
Looking for Jane..
his drunken voice
carries through the fields
like ice on the winds..
begging her
to let him in
swearing he loves her.
When the night grows quiet
she knows
he went through a window
and smoke begins to rise
in the moonlight.....