Haiku Sequence

                                         THE DUST BOWL

                                          early morning

                                          before the wind rises

                                          a glimpse of the sun

                                          feeding chickens

                                          the children tethered

                                          to a rope

                                          rolling dust

                                          the horizon opens

                                          and closes

                                          wind gusting–

                                          another meal of potatoes

                                          and grit

                                          picked corn

                                          beneath the dust

                                          more dust

                                          clothes on the line

                                          the first dry and dirty

                                          before the last

                                          sheriff’s auction

                                          her good china divided

                                          into sets of two

                                          Sunday service

                                          prayers for rain

                                          blown away

                                          sweat down my face–

                                          counting the roads

                                          out of town

Frogpond, Summer 2012