Sunday, October 23, 2005

iowa

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prairie's tall grass, pond,

sound of trucks - this new eighty

cut through th'heart 'f iowa
(12-14)




ladybug climbs map -
up thirty, uphill, upwind
beneath, cyclist sleeps
(3-10)






des moines ramp traffic
spares grasshopper - patiently,
northwest to southeast
(2-10)





outside dyersville,
fields of ripe corn and baseball -
fantasy's bullpen
(3-10)





neck deep in wapsi -
she's miles from retribution,
five feet from nettles
(11-13)




-->
town’s policeman doesn’t hear

its deafening noise
(6-15)




near dubuque, th'trappists

farm 'n silence - but th'hiker hears

locusts, ev'ry step
(11-14)




highway one onramp -
truckers' fumes, and the shrill cry
of redwinged blackbirds
(7-05)






english river bridge
to yonder amish window -
a banjo carries
(5-11)






dog hits tire at night,
when towns like ware are asleep -
but crickets hear it
(10-05)





ames farm's barbed wire fence -
monarch catches morning sun,
dance 'v monday's freedom
(2-14)



lincoln highway bridge
shelter from thunder, lightning
summer storm moment
(5-10)


-->
these small town churches,

best thing ‘bout ‘em, says th’britt sage,
th’meetings in th’basement



-->
iowa falls feed caps –

tale ‘f th’corn silo accident,

‘n’ th’time he couldn’t breathe
(6-15)



reads plates on 80
commutes through midsummer night
coralville- hey, maine!
(7-05)






quarter in wapsi,
wish floating downstream, through corn
ready for harvest
(1-07)






football saturday
cars backed up past hawkeye drive
beat minnesota!
(7-05)






crisp fall morn, cold look -
don't walk on the don't walk sign
in cedar rapids
(5-10)





born in bluffs - one fall,
in town, couldn' get off eighty,
and never came back
(1-13)






pottawattomie,
read through dead leaves on bumper,
frames this license plate
(9-08)






stone city gravel
roads sneak up on its buildings -
orion watches
(2-10)





leaving for padre,
champagne, map on small table
in winnebago
(4-10)







thirty five 'n' eighty =
warm tea, numb fingers, a choice:
texas or west coast?
(12-11)





burg poet's topic
as blizzard pushes through door -
ash and omelet grease
(12-11)





on one, near annie
drunken rider, car in drifts
argues which way's north
(3-10)





offer 'f place to stay -

in ames blizzard, th'pastor shows

a genuine faith
(12-14)




amana tourists
pick up mill workers' german -
outside, a blizzard
(2-10)







worst cold spell 'n twenty

years - jeff county farmer blames

the maharishi
(12-14)





amana woolens-
outside the mill, icy glaze
covers corn and brick
(7-05)





icy solon road,
eternal damnation sign
frames empty cabin
(7-05)







orange triangle -
buggy blocks kalona road,
wood wheels on packed snow
(7-05)







named this town lisbon
railroad, dreams, cities, people
but dreams don't till weeds
(7-05)




-->
shiloh road farmhouse –

pink porch means she’s marryin’ age,

he says – nice flowers!
(5-15)




-->
kalona dairy –

she hides behind engorged cows,

th’men talk ‘f barn raising
(5-15)




-->
her buggy, mud road

near one – always ‘n outsider,

but she’d have it worse

(5-15)
 




fresh rhubarb, cups of
sugar, sharp pie - black coffee,
ready for wellman
(3-10)





place called ivanhoe,

where one hits th’cedar – he’ll fish

n’ pick th’ripe mulberries
(5-15)





flood of ninety-three
june rains push skunk river - can't
leave town fast enough
(1-07)
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