Exit 30
Saw him north of Exit 30,
On the shoulder, walking south.
No shirt, cut-off jeans, and a rucksack
Slung over his shoulder. Lake Norman waving blue beside.
North of Exit 30, this kid's lean as beef jerky.
In the furnace blast from eighteen wheelers steeling past,
I make this muscled kid for a stringer, a roofer or a painter,
A landscaper, maybe, for the big houses overlooking Lake Norman.
On the shoulder, north of Exit 30,
Not thumbing for a ride, not asking for a break.
Maybe a woman and a child at home--not every house a mansion.
I love this kid like sunrise shining through the pines on Lake Norman.
North of Exit 30, driving south
I root for this kid, like he's my own. I want dinner
Waiting on his table--ribs, grits and biscuits, a pitcher of sweet tea.
I wish him a young wife with a smile pretty as moon rise over Lake Norman.
But south of Exit 30, I fear the other, as likely as not.
I fear for this kid the sickly scent of meth cooked where dinner
Should be cooked. I fear slippage on his shore, a babe hungry in its crib,
And a wife old and dry as Lake Norman's caked red clay in summer drought.
Bill Lee and Duke Power dammed the river to create the lake,
They meant no harm when they flooded farms in its swirls and eddies,
Bill, generous of heart when he upturned lives and washed out the marsh
Where egrets used to fish, his crystal eyes blue as the waters of Lake Norman.
Electrify to satisfy, he told me once in his big office.
Write off the drowned cows, social divide, and watery detritus
To the progress of man. Create wealth and don't worry so godddamn much
About young men walking the Bill Lee Freeway, Lake Norman waving beside.
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Author's Note
A rare poem.
I live near Lake Norman and Exit 30. Bill Lee, former CEO at Duke Power and now deceased, was a fine man in many ways. The lake he created has its plusses and minuses.
Other stories by Gary V. Powell
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Great stuff, Gary. I particularly like, "I fear for this kid the sickly scent of meth cooked where dinner
Should be cooked. I fear slippage on his shore, a babe hungry in its crib,
And a wife old and dry as Lake Norman's caked red clay in summer drought." Very powerful. **
Very strong message. *
Engaging and moving. Interesting dichotomy of Lee's intentions and effect. *
Good poem. Hope you'll write more, Gary.
Totally get it.
Well done, well done.*
love the form play and the strength of the narrative.*
*, Gary. Powerful, well-written layout as to which kind of kid is he? Strong and so well spelled out.
Interesting advice from Mr. Norman: "Create wealth and don't worry so godddamn much About young men walking the Bill Lee Freeway, Lake Norman waving beside."
As an aside, I could be wrong, but I think Exit 30 on I-77 is at or near Davidson college.
Strong use of repetition and the phenomenon of imagined narratives of lives we can't know.
Gary, this is a classic in its time.
A cautionary tale well told. *
Love how you have the lake sipping back and forth within the poetry, lake soft lapping waves.
The cost of progress. Well told. "*"
Thanks to all for the comments and faves. I'm out of my element with poetry, but sometimes you have to go that way.
I'm really taken by the way you've strung together certain words. The sounds are a joy, and the poem as a whole is very, very good *
Gary, this is a really powerful piece of writing. I love the expanse of it, the strength of the image of the young man, the way you dance around him from different angles. It just keeps coming at you, this piece... **
Foster and Deborah, glad this piece worked for you.
Stunning. Especially as I am currently very close to a water diversion project that would create some electricity somewhere. *