The boards. Well you can see them as plain as I can. They are dry. They are simple and ordinary in the character shown, as hand cut wood for laying up that barn, or loafing shed, and they have begun to dismount themselves from the straightness of the original path before I was born, or my father was born, they are tender with age.
The day took place that the hole in the front of the roof was covered by a door, it's hinges have rusted out, and it has fallen. Finding two boards of the same width or length would be challenging, filling the holes left by time impossible. Stand and look at it long enough, you can see the straightness of its sides, the livestock within, the precious straps and reins hanging from the walls, and mostly you can see that time has passed. It will fall, maybe in my lifetime, maybe in yours.
Grab the top of the gate, bring it up right, drop the rope around it, and let it go.
Ralph Peck
Photo by Ralph Peck
Outside of Spavinaw, Oklahoma
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