Hollow Covenant: A Letter From Rural America

/ Hollow /

: an unfilled space

/ Covenant /
: a solemn and binding agreement that brings about a relationship of commitment

Place… we are bound to it.
Its essence shapes us,
its soul, expressed through the flesh of soil and leaves,
mortar and brick,
entwines with ours, two becoming one.

We need a Place,
and so too does a Place need us.
It returns our Love with Love,
our Neglect with Decay,
our Abandonment with Loneliness.

Like the bond to a lover,
it starts with an insatiable passion,
that grows to weather storms and peril.
One that matures overtime,
into an inseparable unity.

An example for generations to come.

But it is not always the fairytale ending,

of an eternal bond, passed through the ages.

Too often now,
one partner grows weary.
They tire of the effort required to maintain,
and are lured away by another.
Another place, a newer place.

One that is perhaps younger, brighter, shinier.
Or one that is “established”, “wealthier”, and more “stable”.
A new lover that promises a life
that is easier, more comfortable, and
soft.

And in doing so, the other is left behind.
Abandoned to fend on their own.
Some may find another to care for them,
comfort them, love them again.
Many though, will not.

And in the end,

both will have lost

a part of themselves.