Old-Timers Poem by Jared Carter

I like their stories about snow -
how deep it got by spring. And nobody
would eat tomatoes, they were poison.

Butcher-knife outlasts a man
if you hone it on a crock's edge.
The blades get wafer thin and curved,

like wings. Wait until second frost
before going out to look for ginseng,
black walnut, sassafras. This

is how you shake a geode to see
if it's hollow. A Petoskey stone
will polish itself in your pocket

if you don't take it out. Keep a pot
of aloe handy, it's the best thing
for burns. Survive. Remember. Know.


First published in Karamu.


In the photo below: Petoskey stones, fossilized coral found along the beaches of northwest Michigan from Traverse City to the Straits.