THE TEXAS PLEASER
The sunset is focused and red
as a post-pugilist's solar plexus:
a pain never jet-lagged or
caught without a thread
in conversation: the bus
is a timeline of its own
and when we're on the road
we won't speak for hours;
our needs are all bandaged up
and clicked shut in a tight
white box, lickety-slick with
a red X on the side, and
at night we know
if we pulled over we'd cry.
The next town is an "oh,
what did you say?" and
the town after that is
the ring, and the town
after that is the card girl,
and the town after that is
a bucketful of spit.
Shafer Hall
.....