past somber red pits North,
dodging back then forth desolate Winds
hurrying along into sudden skids,
happens out here in this unfettered northcountry
with towns of forgotten miners,
where bars and sailors line the streets,
where barefoot raincoat girls slip on by earnestly.
loomed these same Hibbing streets years past
searching to plant his songs
to connect his scribblings unrecorded
played and sung on the run,
heartstrings from thirsty wandering bootheels.
Dylan, your birthtown echoes country music ramblings
from corner drug stores to county iron shafts,
here, where fertile trees now wave
far past frozen Minnesota borderlines.
here, where Hollis Brown songs
birthed future destinations of searching young America,
here, where this distant Monday morning town
with dangling cigarettes and worn bike tires
contemplating the next ride out
toward distant electric steel cities.
here, parked on your street
imagining your mother there by an open window
now far removed from the hum of these streetlights,
recalling your faded image
in the desolation rain outside.