Author Archives: Gavin Stevens

About Gavin Stevens

Humptulips County is the wholly fictional on-line residence of Stephen Ellis, a would-be writer, an avid fan of William Faulkner and his Yoknapatawpha County, and a retired lawyer.

An Autumn Drive Along The River Road

The name — of it — is “Autumn” — The hue — of it — is Blood — An Artery — upon the Hill — A Vein — along the Road — Great Globules — in the Alleys — And … Continue reading

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The Harvest Dew

When fall comes to New England The sun slants in so fine And the air’s so clear You can almost hear the grapes grow on the vine The nights are sharp with starlight And the days are cool and clean … Continue reading

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The Blessings Of The Rural Mailbox

“Derek watched her car vanish into the mist, then set off to finish his trek.  He listened to the rain gush, listened as it turned into a steady patter, into muttered tinklings, into occasional drops, and, finally, into the quiet … Continue reading

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The Simple Gifts Are Best

We went to our best friends’ home for dinner last night and had a wonderful time.  Due to all of the things that begin happening at our age, we hadn’t gotten together for several months and all of us were … Continue reading

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The Pines Are Alive With The Sound Of Music

The Wind took up the Northern Things And piled them in the south – Then gave the East unto the West And opening his mouth The four Divisions of the Earth Did make as to devour While everything to corners … Continue reading

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Goodbye, But Not Farewell

The old man smiled.  “I shall not die of a cold, my son.  I shall die of having lived.” Willa Cather, Death Comes for the Archbishop   “They’re certainly entitled to think that, and they’re entitled to full respect for their … Continue reading

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The Smell of Woodsmoke

I shall build me a house where the larkspur blooms In a narrow glade in an alder wood, Where the sunset shadows make violet glooms, And a whip-poor-will calls in eerie mood. I shall lie on a bed of river … Continue reading

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Dear Bob:

There is a song by Rodney Crowell entitled “Things I Wish I’d Said” that ends with this couplet: No, I don’t have to live in dread Over things I wish I’d said You probably never heard of Rodney Crowell, or, … Continue reading

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The Beauty and Allure of Far Horizons

“Sometimes, looking in the windows of art-dealers south of Piccadilly, I find myself wondering how it is that a painter has stopped just here.  I could no more paint that sunset or that beetling cliff, that moorland with the clump … Continue reading

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The Zealot’s Song

A zealot’s song is neither pretty nor fine.  It is a sustained shriek into the teeth of the winds of change which seeks to challenge and interrupt an evolving chain of reasoned logic.  It is a one note howl of defiance and … Continue reading

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