i'm cultivating a southern
accent and a pile of dirty
laundry on a clothes line
hang my body out
the wind holds back my hair
we're blessed like days
when the train stops and
doors open at our feet
on the other side of the
country my family is dying
rain clouds cover the valley
the dog bones fill with cancer
the redwoods uproot and collapse
under their own weight the neighbors
eat their chickens leaving nothing
but the empty coop full of ghosts