an amish woman in a buggy

staccato clop,

hoof on blacktop

echo up the valley

through a morning fog, 

unable to dampen the sound.

carriage emerges toward me,

black boxed on the road

a part of small history.

tack and reigns noisy as

coins in a can.

the horse's hard

breaths adds to

the fog. adds to the music.

the eyes of the driver

stand out religiously

dark, austere,

a hundred years

away from mine,

we gesture and smile

i return to my century

she to hers.

i watch her disappear

back in to the fog,

down the road

through the lens of my camera

and then return to making

photographs of wet grasses,

hot in the small patches of

sun breaking through the fog

on the side of the mountain.

Reviews

[John the Baptist]

Interesting look at contrasting cultures here. The photographer with his modern equipment exchanges quiet greetings with an Amish woman in a buggy as they pass each other on the road. Just a momentary encounter, but it shows how different cultures can co-exist peacefully. If only the world as a whole could learn this lesson.