After the flood, only the top bars
of soccer goals are visible–fragments
________of borders in the field.
________________________________Round bales across the road
ferment in standing water.
Sand bags
___________stacked along the shoulder of the insterstate
_______anticipate more rise.
_______________***
The day I left,
my mother asked why
______________can’t we be like we used to be?
______________________That morning
I saw an Amish farmer
pull his buggy into the turning lane
______________________________of a major highway.
_______________***
On my way west
______________________________there is new
water. Missouri and Nebraska
flood days after Tennessee.
____________________________Ahead of the rain,
_______________________lightning
bugs hover above rows of beans,
______________anticipating dark. A storm
sets them off–
_______________flashes as far back
as the edge of the field.
_______________***
The horse was tentative, wanted
to cross to the shoulder.
_________________________The farmer held the reins
tight in his hands,
___________________waited for cars to pass
before giving the tick, tick
________that started the horse
_________________________across the pavement.