SEEING AND BELIEVING

Rivers fat with spring sliding by
on muddy oiled bearings in dawn blue

Tanker cars of corn syrup shrug
on a siding cloaked by thick brush

Scent of cedar smoke in swampy fog
meanders after the Coltrane rain

The country radio sings I never been
a husband but I had a wife I had a wife

Drive-in liquors Save Save Save
Save Gas and sermons’ overflowing

Bottled-up church traffic snarling
the multiplex action and adventure

Weeds flower from the tops of rusting
pumps ‘neath weathered crossroads canopies

Fighting ivy and kudzu doublewides sprout
satellite dishes asking sky for answers

Bandaged hands pick produce through echoey
buzz of last night’s rum and punch

Roadside diners windowed with newsprint
fixing the yellow day the rent stopped

A raven circles in ashes and sparks
above a trailer park trash fire

Four corners of catfish competitive
B-B-Q in the neon bug-zapping twilight

Mockingbird and wren marsh and bramble
creek river rail ferry swamp and swash

Just close your driving eyes and listen
listen to it get dark get dark get dark