from the back of a pickup #2

photo by the author

they bopped along

considerin each other’s bare feet,

sweet Sangre de Christo July sweat moist from hayin,

scratchy Howlin Wolf tapes playin

fresh cut alfalfa deliciously liftin them into the air,

the Santa Fe Trail sky sprinkled with galaxies

extraterrestrial bebop expressionist lightshow movement,

and from somewhere Sonny commentin on the stillness of that night,

and his giggled response sendin her long spidery fingers

deep inside her tight backpockets for a pack of Juicy Fruit,

and soon the sugar hit

as the blues guitar turnin into Pink Floyd

and they sure nough got up to dance,

so with another sunrise comin on

and sleep irrelevant,

they kicked aside the sleeping bags

rolled up tight like their buckskin dreams

jus bouncin along

from the back of a pickup

Fall, 2011

(recalling that summer in Bemidji, Minnesota, 1972)