Poetry by Jeannie E. Roberts

    Heath Cajandig CC



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The Salvage Truck


Most mornings
I hear the clank and rattle of sharp objects
the clink and clunk of scrap metal--
copper piping
iron railings
aluminum siding--
banging and knocking atop a trailer
pulled behind a pickup
driven by a kind man.
When I’m outside
I wave.

*

Most things can be salvaged
including relationships.
Though the participants
must agree to do the work
to expose the broken parts
place them together
let them clank and rattle
clink and clunk
until they’re smoothed by faith
repaired by forgiveness.

*

A cast iron skillet
has fallen off the trailer.
I alert the driver
retrieve it from the alley
and wish the kind man a good day.





Jeannie E. Roberts is a Midwesterner with Minnesota and Wisconsin roots. She has authored eight books. Her most recent collection is titled The Ethereal Effect - A Collection of Villanelles (Kelsay Books, 2022). She serves as a poetry editor for the online literary magazine Halfway Down the Stairs and is an Eric Hoffer and a two-time Best of the Net award nominee. 
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