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US 165
by Henry Walters
Miss Arkansas—the clapboard houses—I
caught sight—they rot down—maiden names intact
in how they sway there—swamp-oaks—poverty
too silent not to—rice in flooded flats—
brown land unzipped—“first marriages that last
two weeks”—rope twisting—“Woodpecker Not Found
But Rumors Flying”—where—and accentless:
my god what do we do against our own.
skin putrefying under tar—noon light
and yellow—chiggers at the ankle—heat
mirage in parking lots—is that the bird
I see before me on the trunk—floorboards
give way—no earth—what bird—a talisman—
“how long we leave her there like that?”—drive on
back to Spring 2007 Table of Contents
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