the salt lick (1988)

down, hidden in the ravine
by the brushpile
the other side of lake
out on north side of town
beyond gentle dip of road who floods
under mere rain
drop, even further out than deserted
drive-in theaters we once
found a salt lick
having no cattle of our own
we wondered how it got
to be there
assuming it to be planted for you seed late
in the autumn
when leaves left their final right
indentations on pond water
when coyote scat is cold
as a nickle, when turkey drops
tail feather to sail over horizon, when
night's only sound is the steady
churn of a oil well
&even that is mind imagining a
heartbeat, then it is a dear
deer season indeed



(1988, Lawrence Kansas)