Rusty Heart

Steel on steel
winds twenty miles through
forests of ancient water towers and lots filled with broken glass
As if a pinata were pierced and bitterness sprinkled
On streets named for dead presidents.

Rails on stilts
forged a century ago by hungry men who built
Nelson Algren’s “dark girders of the city’s rusty heart”
their thrumming
Like water running over dinner dishes in a kitchen sink
lulling an anxious child to sleep

Wheels clack like an old fashioned pull toy on wood floors
Through West Side Streets laid out on graph paper
Past schools with concrete playgrounds
Intersecting dreams deferred.

“From Music in the Air”, 2013
Outrider Press