Diesels bay at 3 a.m.
as they prowl railyards
on the north end of town
A screen lights the kitchen
half-cleaned, still
fragrant with cumin and onions
an update chimes:
the rodeo queen has shared
another picture of her boys
Facebook maps a diaspora
coal-dusted children
departure-seared
poured like mine tailings
from the Valley down the
slopes of the Rocky Mountains
Goodbyes trace like fireworks
the explosion at the mine
blew out the heart of our town
Iron wheels clatter in time
with breakfast pans. Men
descend into the seam
echoing
the whistle of the coal train
Poets of G+ Challenge: write a poem the starts at the end and moves toward the beginning
This is a really nice poem, Yanna. Next time you're in Carbondale you should meet up with our Carbondale poetry workshop and/or the Aspen Poets' Society monthly open mic (next one on Sunday, 8/24),
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting challenge you responded to in this poem. It's sort of a whole "deductive versus inductive" reasoning thing, eh? Terrific story told within your lines.
ReplyDeleteI'm back to say thank you for the comments on my road trip posts--and to yell I DIDN'T REALIZE YOU LIVE IN DENVER! There's something about fellow bloggers where I often don't fully register where they live unless they make it the focus of their posts. Duh.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, our road trip actually took place in July, so I'm blogging it after-the-fact. I've realized over the years that my blog is a good place to record things I'd forget otherwise, like things my kids have said, so these posts are entirely self-indulgent!