500 miles
all the way from Omaha
nine hours
on the back of a flatbed truck
buffeted by hot wind
that thrashed our bodies
tied our hair into knots
sucked the air
right out of our lungs &
ripped the voices
from our lips
we rolled on past fields
of wheat and corn
soy and hay
the endless midwest landscape
swallowed up by prairie and sky
a spool unreeling, a banner unfurling
time and space unwinding
we played chess
on a tiny magnetic board
until you called checkmate
about six hours out
somewhere just past
Des Moines
7
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96 words
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Published in
Thunderclap Press National Poetry Month Anthology (April 2012)
Thank you publisher and poetry editor Amanda Deo!
You skillfully capture the way it feels. Nice work. *
I'm a music junkie, Michael -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTWlMLj_AGE
from The List.
Good piece. Favorite lines:
"the endless midwest landscape
swallowed up by prairie and sky
a spool unreeling, a banner unfurling
time and space unwinding"
*
Builds to a very strong finish.
Damn fine piece of poetry. Nothing to say but a nod of the head. Went back and read it over four or five times just to hear the words. Beautiful, evocative.*
And we are there now, too. *
I know this landscape well. I can feel the rush of wind and the passage of empty fields in these words.*
I can almost feel the repeating thud of that one tire which was out of balance, oh yeah. Words playing like a symphony of hot breath between the lines. *
"the endless midwest landscape"
Exactly.
Let's play chess, Michael, the next time our paths cross!
I appreciate how there is just a hint of the relationship between the speaker and the addressee.