Decidedly

Bottle cold

in a glass Coke bottle

and shelve it for next summer.

Come the thunder

rush the Northern shoals,

the black-tar coal

a lock barrel man

makes in an hour

is wheeled out

in great metal crates,

passing through wrought iron gates

thru Mordor and McDonalds,

climb the counter,

the after-hour drafter

and two-bit paddy-whacker

toss a Jack a loan

pre-approved no credit check

or break the bank like Bonnie.

Ride the old train up

Tip Turn Canyon,

switch back

manic track

on the Tennessee trail.

Climb the stepped back

Smoky passes

like gallon water jugs

go for walk about—

ain’t nothing

but mosquito bait,

pale as mourning,

pink as birth,

masked humid

heavy dour in our chests

like clay clogs the banks,

and keeps at bay of its own

containments,

pauses for rain storms

on the back wood porch

covered, and shameless.

The naked plainness

stains Nebraska,

and rides the marshy inlets,

Cape Fear Caroline

and besides which

where is—.