The Scarecrow Poem by Matthew Buchwald

The Scarecrow



A galleon with a mainmast tall as a redwood tree
Sank in a corn field; inside the cabin was
A king's ransom in glittering gold and jewels:
Rubies, diamonds, emeralds, strings of pearls;
All the while, a skeleton in a bicorn hat stood guard.

A ghost which the farmer's scarecrow had never seen
(He was familiar with a dozen or more) told him how
The ship ran aground, how sailors struggled
Desperately against the hurricane, to save her,
Being washed overboard, or dashed against the bulwarks,
How the sails were torn to shreds and she was blown off course,
Tossed about like driftwood by the winds and currents,
It seemed for an eternity, until she came to rest
Upon this distant shore, a death ship without
A captain, without a crew, stranded in the Arizona desert.
And he heard how the First Officer, the last man of all,
Died of hunger and thirst, his cries echoing through the skies
As the galleon lightly touched down in the sandy soil,
Scaring off a flock of crows and squashing rows of corn.

Rusty chain and anchor, loose hanging shrouds lay
Athwart the dusty farmland, cotton and alfalfa too,
Where the rains drain down off the high rocky
Hillsides, watering the cactuses and featherbush,
The thirsty rabbits and feral cats; I was that useless
Scarecrow who needed a ship of the line off the Spanish Main
With a score of iron cannon to frighten off the birds, but
Still they came back to roost, perching on the yardarms
Nesting in the wheelhouse, gobbling up the corn,
And chasing all the other scavengers away.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Close
Error Success