Ohio

erie driftwood beach
pebbles, sand under bare feet
nuke plant fades from view
(7-05)






from her hotel, th’lake,
so calm ‘n’ warm ‘n th’day – at night,
she wants t’rock cleveland
(1-18)





-->

chips ‘n’ drinks, fox news ‘n’ th’pool –
hunting valley lass never heard
‘f th’birthplace of garfield
(1-18)









got th’atomic clock,
but th’serpent mound folks had this,
aligned with th’solstice
(3-17)









camping, shores ‘f erie –
sleeping bag ‘n th’sand, driftwood placed
t’block th’view of th’nuke plant
(6-16)










gordon square souv’nir,
grandpa finds th’fact’ry key ‘n th’bush -
hid it there himself
(11-17)







bowl ‘f graeter’s ice cream –
come from th’west coast t’tell us ‘bout
th’best ‘f cincinnati
(11-17)









t'ledo streets were once
covered with elms - all summer,
they held our secrets
(3-10)











th’canopy – t’ledo
and th’elms were her childhood stage –
now it seems so bare
(3-16)








long ride through th’city –
tribe fan, she gives th’best tour
‘f th’place where he was born
(4-16)








th’old house in mansfield –
paint it, refinish th’wood floors,
wonder ‘bout th’future
(3-17)









lost ‘n cincinnati –
two diff’rent straight streets, they say,
‘fore y’get to th’train yards
(12-17)







high on th’ferris wheel,
suspended ‘bove lake erie –
mem’ries ‘f cedar point
(10-16)







hit ev'ry yard sale
in holmes county - we english
have t'go to walmart
(1-13)







th’amish crowd th’yard sales
an hour’s ride from holmes county –
like t’buy th’pots and pans
(7-17)









‘nother victory
on east sixth street – this city
likes shirts ‘bout itself
(9-17)












th’green hills near zanesville,
th’place that called it ‘bisketi’ –
just can’t find it now
(10-17)






a ways down straight street,
some weeds out there, but you’ll find
th’cincinnati yard
(6-15)








t'ledo zoo panda
fresh bamboo flown in daily
held up in detroit
(7-05)










fremont kitchen tales –
wealth ‘f presidential hist’ry,
homegrown tomatoes
(9-15)









homegrown tomatoes
don’t travel well, says th’troy kid –
eats his like ‘n apple
(3-17)










turnpike rest stop dawn -
rock star spotted near bathroom;
august's lively beat
(4-10)




-->

th’monarch ‘n oberlin –
th’scholar’s spent august writing
‘n’ forgot how t’dance
(1-18)





rock star’s august tour –
hiker needs th’blue heron t’pee,
both ‘re up ‘t three a m
(10-16)







oberlin scholar –
teaching shakespeare again, spends
th’weekend wading ‘n th’lake
(2-16)







 

left westlake while back,
now, th’leaves ‘f cahoon creek, ‘n’ th’childhood
he tried so hard t’flee
(1-18)









steubenville kid’s dreams,
he says, used t’be th’mills ‘n’ football –
now, they’re just football
(3-17)








steubenville tackle –
that sense ‘f rage under pressure
kicks in by itself
(7-17)







sea of red 'n' silver,
pitcher spilled on hiker's pack -
must've beat michigan
(5-13)








red ‘n’ silver fill th’bar –
when they’re drunk they cuss ‘n’ use
bad words like “mich’gan”
(3-17)








‘round cincinnati,
he finds ‘n his jacket pocket
th’well-worn buckeye
(10-16)







spiegel grove scholar –
pockets th’acorns, plans his book
on reconstruction
(10-16)







acorns ‘f spiegel grove –
reconstruction scholar’s tale,
‘bout why he pockets‘m
(12-17)







sausage haus ‘t kossuth,
on th’brick streets ‘f german village –
here too, th’red ‘n’ silver
(10-17)










athens professor
lost pretense of refinement
too drunk for turkey
(5-13)






athens professor,
defender ‘f th’ancient classics
too drunk f’r pumpkin pie
(3-17)






black shiny carriage,
wooden wheel on cracking ice -
holmes county backroad
(1-10)










hoarse, thirsty blades fans
celebrating new year win -
champagne on lake floes
(9-08)







th’old truck, th’smoke, th’lake view –
th’plain dealers’re insulation
from th’frozen floorboards
(5-16)






maine t'california,
roadsigns blurry, roads icy
'round ashtabula
(~10)








cleveland’s old houses –
keep you warm ‘n th’cold lake winters,
but all th’copper’s stripped
(6-17)




 

ice on th’bricks – even
augmented reality
won’t help steubenville
(1-18)




-->

not clapping’s treason,
he says ‘t th’winter speech ‘n cincy –
they watch th’crash ‘n th’telly
(1-18)







in akron th'road forks -
through icy falls to th'north,
or straight east t'new york
(11-13)










midnight decision
‘t akron – north ‘long th’lake, ‘r th’city –
icy either way
(3-17)









deliv’ring plain dealers
from th’icy cab ‘f th’ancient truck –
most ‘f th’news’s gone online
(12-17)









outside toledo
frozen slush falling from truck
makes glazed road deadly
(7-05)









hopin’ t’make t’ledo,
th’blizzard hides th’road – behind th’truck,
big chunks ‘f ice’re falling
(5-16)







c’lumbus t’toledo –
watch th’trucker’s lights ‘n’ follow him,
hoping he’ll break th’ice
(10-16)









toledo-bound trucks –
slush makes th’roads seem passable,
bridges’re still so slick
(9-17)










cleveland bus station,
offered hard drugs t'beat th'cold - wait!
i was born 'n this town!
(12-14)









from catawba shores
truck tires cracking snow on ice -
some will sink in spring
(1-10)







"th'ice 'n th'middle'll hold you,"
he says, driving from c'tawba,
"'s when it pulls from th'shore"
(12-14)








fish’re hungry under th’ice,
from catawba he weighs th’risks –
might lose ‘nother truck
(10-16)









not god’s will, says th’lass
outside th’icy shreve clinic –
‘t’s amish genetics
(4-16)








blizzard hides white lines
truck lights dance t'ward troy exit
no such thing as brake
(2-10)










used t'manufacture
things, ‘n th’small ohio towns, now,
they cook drugs t’stay warm
(2-16)









elmyra trucker –
nine gears, ice ‘n’ gravel, slope,
wouldn’t pass him by
(1-15)








near cincinnati,
truck jackknifed in icy lot,
driver calls and quits
(5-13)








“rock’s th’savior ‘f th’common
man” – she gives th’hall’s tickets
t’one of cleveland’s own
(5-15)








north coast spring dawn –
fine ear f’r music, th’sharp insult
for th’cities on th’tour
(6-16)









cleveland hall ‘f famer –
inducted f’r th’raunchy music,
orders th’purest ‘f foods
(6-17)





-->
zanesville parents’ tale –
by spring, few teachers are left,
‘n’ look what they’re teaching
(1-18)







spring squall ‘n ohio –
white-haired clerk ‘n’ th’hiker agree,
tribe’s drought ‘bout over
(10-16)









her own rhubarb pie –
th’ashland lass cuts th’purple shoots,
pours in all th’sugar
(3-17)






good fishin' in may -
old man can tell you when that
river caught on fire
(12-13)






opioid crisis –
th’ohio sheriff’s june night,
tries t’save th’mother’s life
(7-17)






-->

trilliums ‘t th’serpent mound –
‘mongst th’lush green valleys, ‘n’ knowing
which day is th’longest
(2-18)



serpent mound story -
body lines up with solstice,
happens to be now
(4-10)







serpent mound solstice -
they tracked the sun precisely,
and then they vanished
(12-13)










serpent mound fest’val –
new agers like th’place, he says,
‘cause th’natives ‘re long gone
(2-16)












outside toledo,
th’parents got th’sparklers – th’kids know,
th’fireflies give th’best show
(3-17)






lining up th’serpent –
folks that built these mounds, he says,
knew more than we do
(2-16)









your journey brought you
to th’serpent mounds, longest day –
things’ll line up for you
(10-16)







fog on th’rolling green –
once th’pilot saw it, had t’come
t’th’serpent mound fest’val
(12-17)






e pluribus haiku