under the stars, under the canopy of your heart (september e-mail gurl), a poem

under the stars, under the canopy of your heart
(september e-mail gurl)

(for Sylvia)


from the west they come tum-
bling over the mountains,
under the stars, under
the canopy of your heart

they kick up dust
in the ghost towns of
Nevada and hurtle hither
& yon through Utah, vaulting o-

ver the grandest of canyons
and galloping down the streets
of Gallup, they caterwaul
like alleycats into Kit Carson

Colorado and scampering
up & down the endless rows
of endless Kansas corn they
holler: "Goodbye Salina!" and

"Hello Topeka!" then scurry through
Missouri - stripping & dipping (skinny
style) in the mighty Mississipp awhile -
they puff out their chests and

strut their stuff through the
front doors of the shotgun
bars of East St. Louis, stumb-
ing out the back they shoot

up the road for one last sip
from the city of Champaign, then
off to catch that Danville train
rolling through the bowling

alleys & flea markets of
Terra Haute & Kokomo, and
over the Buckeye border's
golden trees all aspangle

they fly by Chicken Bristle,
Farmersville, New Hope & Liberty -
and after posing pretty
over Dayton the Gem City

they scoot across the park, leap-
ing over the fence and into my
yard, up the back walk through
double-glaze windows into my

kitchen emblazing my heart.
they perch themselves there:
like songbirds singing
in time to its beating

from the west they come
fresh air








(from the chapbook "trying to unravel something, anything" 1998 - originally titled "into my kitchen emblazing my heart (september e-mail gurl)"

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