The Good and Mighty Nowhere

The Good and Mighty Nowhere

Whether it was the edge of town or the edge of the Midwest,
It felt good to be nowhere,
watching trains,
All my life,
The premise of me,
Out there,
somewhere,
nowhere,
watching the slack of the railcars from a tent,
kicking my wet boots off
18 hours to sleep in the rain?

waking to reservation kids doing donuts with an old Caddy nearby
praying they see my tent in the murder of shadows as night claims us
dozing and rising to the rumbling freights and screeching adolescence
the mighty of this land
still with their ritual dances

and all that star-spangled nothing rests like a chocolate-faced menace asleep in the grass
all its toys piled on top
a spoiled toddler buried in distraction
the mess it makes when woken too

I look out at my matchbox Oldsmobile on its stomach
a bunch of rolling forever breathes and sleeps now
Tomorrow is Montana