mississippi

yazoo city law -
through crack in tinted window,
a sweltering heat
(4-10)






kudzu in mirror,
enough mint tea, y'all come back -
yazoo city still
(10-08)






desoto campfire -
stories of small-town picnics
and not fitting in
(3-10)





folks talk civil war -
old stouts steamboat captain talks
summers on th'river
(12-13)






watching perseids -
vicksburg girl can't imagine
marryin' a yankee
(12-13)






westbound on twenty -
barbecue on pack canvas,
old bridge souvenir
(12-13)





holed up in jackson
labor day hurricane blues
cot springs on off beat
(9-08)








ole miss linebacker
spits his aggression and scorn
on faulkner's sidewalks
(11-13) 







woke in tombigbee,
red clay bed, pine for blanket,
campfire for coffee
(10-08)






home from th'war, killed here,
old cemetery road 'n' confed'rate -
ain't used t'ice 'n these parts
(12-13)





deserted crossroads,
limited fame, yours and mine -
we toast the new year
(10-08)





desoto campfire
smokes wood wet from march drizzle,
better'n any cologne
(10-08)






natchez trace roadside
aroma - unknown blossoms,
or maybe old ghosts?
(7-05)






laurel laundr'mat door -
dryer steam at back, he stops,
baptized by spring rain
(1-13)






girl scouts - tup'lo's finest,
most sincere of mall merchants
selling do-si-dos
(1-13)

itta bena spring -

too many days, waiting for work,

but hope is in th'air

(12-14)

missouri

current rafters' fire
of brush from sandy bottoms
mem'ries of lost loves
(2-10)






clear skies up st. jo
way, but river keeps rising -
right over the road
(7-05)






trucks' rumble as bass,
locusts' melody, harsh glow
kingdom city sign
(4-10)









lake of the ozarks
water dirty - but still lets
a boy catch a fish
(7-05)






missouri cow game -
drive through green hills, count, lose all
at cemetery
(2-10)






live in the moment,
steady canoe, shoot rapids
on current river
(7-05)






st. gen exit ramp,
weeds aflower, locusts deaf'n -
roads drift into haze
(9-09)





a single two-lane
snakes through branson - takes all of
august to get through
(2-10)




y'all come back t'see us,
branson waitress says - august
traffic chokes the road
(1-07)






leg blown off in 'nam,
now i sit in bootheel house,
watch weeds go to seed
(9-05)





milkweed patch near troy -
monarch, your road seems less direct,
you, too, should go south
(2-14)

paw paw - she finds fruit

old mines' brogue is named after,

serves it with pancakes

(10-14)




white spires, bridge at cape
dove's wings perched on great river
november's sun falls
(11-09)





ozark pastor's prayer
for new highway echoes - first
snow dusts joplin road
(12-13)





king bridge's rumbling -
geese, following the river,
louder than people
(1-13)






louisiana,
mexico - missouri towns,
road sign winter dreams
(8-05)






quilt on truman's bed
for eighty lamar winters
too close to wood stove
(2-10)






epiphany feast -
pizza and bottled water
at lambert airport
(1-13)




-->

thunder bay t’n’orleans,

crossing sev’nty, snow t’hard rain

time f’r cup of coffee
(1-15) 

delmar diner cook –

scorn f’r th’poorly dressed ‘hoosiers’

come in from th’blizzard

(6-15)

scarred concrete pillar,
icy shoulder - mem'ry of
mcgwire highway sign
(1-11)






the arch soars, a steel
ribbon cuts, turns - but unlike
my kite, it comes back
(8-05)





plane veers over arch
westbound, a world opens up -
march ozark sunset
(3-10)






foot of the king bridge,
press waits for tournament teams -
sweet sixteen comes home
(3-10)






flooded bootheel plain
march sun, exit bridge doubt me -
bragadoccio
(3-11)




lambert lot shuttle
suitcases press on child's doll
now safe from march rain
(1-10)







june rain pounds the bridge,
muddy missouri rises -
earth city sign's lost
(4-10)

montana

-

bitteroot valley
elk stop for aspen breakfast -
tenuous balance
(2-10)

choteau fourth - one view

'f th'events of little bighorn

upsets th'local girl

(10-14)

trout bucket spills, fish

flail in pickup bed, locusts

screech - road to bozeman

(9-14)

small tent in glacier,
food hung in tree, sounds of woods -
she hears bears all night
(2-14)




-->

glacier campsite bear –

they invited her t’dinner,

she had other plans

(6-15)

uphill, th'wide prairie -

cyclist on two says he's got

new view of 'big sky'

 (10-14)

surprise creek baseball -
game with no fences, challenge
to contain oneself
(10-10)

rising sun cyclist –

by day, pedals th’mountain cliffs

by night, campfire tales

(6-15)

th’roads‘re narrow, th’cliffs‘re steep –

cycling th’sun highway, she says,

th’high point of her life

(6-15)

husband’s ‘n stocks ‘n’ bonds,

she says, ‘bout t’ride th’sun road cliffs,

he studies risk ‘t home

(6-15)

 

thunder, august squalls,
trucker grinding ev'ry gear-
coming out of butte
(1-07)







bear crosses road to
m'ssoula, back into sumac -
and not to college
(8-05)








rains in kalispell -
leaves blown down past camper where
hunters are huddled
(2-10)







cabin at foot of
elevation mountain - watch
orion stand tall
(2-10)







rancher eyes raven,
wolf tracks in snow - there's trouble
in the bitteroot
(2-10)







billings policeman
knows when blizzard's expected
and who'll be stranded
(9-08)







ranchers here'n cam'ron
have trouble getting calves through
winter without wolves
(2-10)






gears shift, trucks rumble,
orion pokes fire embers -
butte cloverleaf fades...
(9-05)






field of camas waves -
four dogs, three hikers, old truck,
winds through lolo pass
(1-13)

river ice breaks up,

fishin's good, but he dries out

in a bozeman jail

(1-12)

koot'nai wilderness -

from th'top 'f th'boxcar, th'mountain springs,

watch out for th'tunnel!

(12-14)

eureka teller
smiles at loonies and toonies -
spring's come down th'rockies
(2-10)

-

nebraska

-

dew on a cobweb,
cobweb on a lincoln sign -
c'cadas' pitch rising
(1-13)





picnic on the platte -
entrails of catfish, wrapped in
yesterday's herald
(12-13)






grand island carney
knows twisters - wind hits trailer,
wakes in a cold sweat
(6-13)






sandwich at carhenge -
prairie stretches out for miles,
cool shade of old truck
(4-10)

tales 'f driving th'old chev -

lincoln by dawn, trunk'f ice 'n' coors,

th'kind that had t'be fresh
(5-14)

ogallala fox -
miles of open range, harvests -
still rather be 'n town
(12-13)

back roads near burwell –

th’rodeo life’s all about horses,

cows’re just t’pay for it

(6-15)

-->

she talks – rodeo food,

th’long drives, motels, roper’s life,

th’finals in north platte

(6-15) 

-->

it’s hard ‘n’ it’s phys’cal,

might feel like ropin’ th’stranger –

smiles, n’turns back t’lincoln

(5-15)

 




redwinged blackbird nests
in weeds by york exit sign -
hiker hides his face
(2-10)






watching huskers' game,
they didn't see th'hawk snatch th'puppy
out in th'parking lot
(12-13)






kept our son back in
lincoln schools - so he'd have a
shot at these huskers
(8-05)






lincoln capitol
guard - jingling keys, cold hands, hot
tea - talking huskers
(2-10)





streets of whiteclay -
turns cold fast here, and folks die,
liquor man won't budge
(11-13)





steakhouse champagne toast -
a fortune from union yards,
this cork pops for thee
(2-10)






ash on icy lot,
rust heaps balance on prairie -
place called alliance
(4-10)







this road goes on to
new york, but in this snowstorm
york would be enough
(8-05)





train hauling new trucks
straight across frozen sand hills -
in one, soft blues harp
(12-13)








welcome back, monarch!
salem roadside milkweeds know
you, too, are northbound
(2-14)





chadron yard breakfast
homemade bread, cheese, wine and field
of black-eyed susans
(2-10)

th’minute school lets out,

puts supplies ‘n’ h’s trunk f’r couple ‘f months

pulling trout from the loup

(6-15)




grand island, june third -
his calendar, stuck on th'day
he lost ev'rything
(12-13)





kearney dorm showers –

preparing for finals, they

might take them for granted

(2-15)

near ogalalla
interstate forks, prairie blooms
in both directions
(2-10)

-

nevada

looking down at sparks
desert summer loses grip -
eastbound train starts out
(2-10)

knows th'beatty speed trap,

lets caddy fly past, get caught -

small town, summer night
(12-14)


 


houses built angled
away from sun - 's why they call
it caliente
(2-10)






eastbound train from sparks
through cold desert summer night
chills us to the bone
(~05)

th’mirror he took from

th’liberace museum

reflects th’blazing sun

(6-15)

outside enterprise
burning sun reddens the weak -
rock caves offer shade
(2-10)

a week in black rock -

he's brought the desert with him,

doesn't stop in vegas

(11-14)

unforgiving chill
desert summer night settles
miles still from elko
(1-07)






dusty old pickup -
campground host, in dunes sign's glow,
curses lost food stamps
(9-10)




august dust rises -
plane's wing turns toward vegas,
sun gets lost in haze
(8-12)

she’s ‘t th’neon boneyard –

after th’blackrock fest’val, had

t’stop ‘t th’golden slipper

(5-15) 

opp’site ‘f fame, she says –

desert camping, with th’soft glow

‘f th’boneyard stardust sign

(5-15) 

smell ‘f desert sagebrush –

something ‘bout th’glitter ‘nth’sparkle

keeps her coming back

(5-15)

neon boneyard tale -
harvest moon stirs her mem'ries
of golden slipper
(9-10)

schoolkids, dutton park –

with a straight face, they tell us -

most ‘f th’strip’’s ‘n paradise

(6-15)

on cold desert train,
dawn brings empty fall stillness
somewhere near elko
(10-08)

watching guests throw coins

in strip fountain - alas, souls' day's

just like all the rest

(11-14)

vegas stopover
flight calls to snow belt towns fade
slots' whirrs take over
(~06)





hits vegas for slots -
new years day he sees lake mead,
even quits drinking
(9-10)







delayed by new year
fog - vegas pilot's never seen
a ceiling this low
(12-10)





left his aging ma
't home on frigid plain - he rests
'neath th'old stardust sign
(9-10)





homestead dreams derailed-
toxic waste, never to thaw,
stay frozen, yucca
(1-07)




vegas pool tanner
tells of march cop convention -
he never went home
(10-08)




reno slots winner
cap full of quarters - stumbles
into march blizzard
(2-10)





came from basque country -
took a few blooming valleys
t'call nevada home
(1-14) 







she eyes th'mountain man,
come down t'reno with th'snowmelt -
all life's a gamble
(1-14)

-