Dolly's Sod

You of roaring plains
impassible, uninhabited hills,
eternally savage high plateau,
eastern continental divides,
mortar shells dot you logging
cleared meadows & falling cliffs,
fallen white oaks that challenged
great sequoia heights,
iridescent fires scorched your
plains, cut by railroad lines,
Dolly Sod, dirt roads, unforgiving
winds, rain & snow, how you're
nestled secretly in West Virginny,
on the eastern slope, you belong
west on this end of Mississippi waters,
how'd you get so lost?
you're dropped from heaven,
suffered here too long...

Ghost

I felt the obscurity
granted by the fog
overtake me
and I was a ghost
gone from the world,
forlorn wanderer
outside life's infinite wonder,
          I crossed the bridge at
Shavers Fork(old WV-33) in eerie
silence, gurgle of Cheat River,
God's one and only sound,
I sat by the banks and prayed,
the day disappearing, night,
night, night, a car from the mist,
demon car of civilization! ushered
me back along with the grayed banks &
strange summer chills,
I was no longer able to hold on,

Later on, in my room
I listened for recognizable footsteps,
I watched the rain fall.

Perhaps Later

In this scenario
          you're sleeping
        I'm writing
          you were recently awake
          my body is still moving with
          the car
        I am unconsciously stationary

The fear of running empty
          pushes me on, like the night
        here is hopeful, quiet
          but not empty
          I feel my soul in the trees
          over the river
          I'm torn on car engines &
          ageless trees
        I am belonging to neither

I am undecided where to die.