Earthen House

By John I. Blair

My father wished to live
in an earthen house,
a dugout roofed with grass,
when he grew old.

It reminded him
how his folk had dwelled
in Oklahoma’s early days
in dens of dirt, of sod.

An engineer, he knew
earthen homes saved energy,
were warm in winter,
cool in summer.

But I think he also knew
how they preserved the land,
saved forests, kept the soil
secure against erosion.

His dream would never happen;
I wonder if he guessed
soil would surround him anyway
at the end.

©2019 John I. Blair, 3/12/2019