Questions for All Your Answers

by Charlotte H. Matthews

When hay in the loft spontaneously caught fire,
we blindfolded the horses and led them out
of the burning barn. Tree peonies live for a hundred
years, outlive us. I once saw hundreds of people
gather at dusk to witness bats feeding under a trestle
bridge before disappearing over the wide water.
Freezing rain can glaze over apples at night. When
the air warms, the apples drop out the bottom,
leaving their icy ghosts behind. We all have two
pairs of floating ribs, 27 bones in our hands
and can save one another by just listening.