Gregory Tullock

Reclamation

A summer day in central Kentucky. Rolling green meadows fringed with forest. Ponds dot the landscape reflecting the late afternoon light. Cattails wave on a scarcely perceptible breeze while bullfrogs croak their proud existence. A chickadee twitters, hidden somewhere in the waves of tall grass. I walk under blue skies, white clouds. What could be more peaceful, more soothing to my soul?

How jarring to realize how many men died on this tranquil terrain. How many boys saturated the soil with the ebbing blood of their truncated lives.

the old war cannon
a dry home
for field sparrows

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Note: “the old war cannon” was previously published as a standalone haiku by Moonstone Press (2025).

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About the Author

Gregory Tullock is a mailman and poet residing in Asheville, North Carolina. His poems are generally composed while walking, either on his daily mail route or on one of the many beautiful nearby mountain trails. His writing has been published in Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Mayfly, Frogpond, Eucalypt Tanka Journal, Ribbons, and other literary journals.

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