“The Wood Holds Feeling” original poem by Kelly Alexandra Hoff, October 2018

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“I can go up and down the stairs

  anytime I please.

The privilege of a party where

the wood holds more feeling.

     The warmth of the energy

    trapped in it.

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Still holding the memory of a 

twin mattress and a cross

in the autumn season.

I walk past the house again.

This time not in a slinky dress.

I’m saddened by the different

letters on the wall.

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I pray for hockey season &

a real job.

I don’t know if Jesus is mad

or if God’s on call.

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I wear their hats and I

give them back.

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I'm always appreciative of a 

male voice.

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The green and red and a

place to play.

        not just sitting and

   twiddling next to a card game.

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An engineer and a heavy weight,

A kind man with a cat.

I’m not just a fashion plate.

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Sometimes I wonder if they

helped bring the love in.

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Because country is country

And now I have a man.

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I wonder if one day we’ll get married.

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Because country is country

and love’s no sin.

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oh, the life of an American

      Scandinavian.

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I don’t know if Jesus is mad,

or if God is on call.

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I’m thin, but I’m strong.

They’ll never take me down.

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The wood, it holds a feeling.

It traps the love for safe-

                             keeping.

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Country is country

and wheat and corn are healing.

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Country is country.

Sometimes the world’s cold,

      but I have feelings.

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There’s no pretending.”

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~ “The Wood Holds Feeling” original poem by Kelly Alexandra Hoff, 2018

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published online:  18 February 2022