Pyramids in the Tulsa desertAn iron insect spitting sand.
Shaggy black quarry dog,
stray god of the river,
lopes between the dozers.
The Sand Plant
Pyramids in the Tulsa desertCategory: Poems
Poetry from Oklahoma
Pyramids in the Tulsa desertA Visitor to the Quarry
Limestone dust scoots across the road
And filters into the already dying June grass.
The peacock appears at the quarry windows,
Not looking in, not looking at the trucks,
Not engaged in any way with human life,
Abiding in its own peacock world
Of green velvet and sweeping coattails,
Gold-tipped cigarette holder and champagne
Glass, muddled fruit of peach and apricot. Continue reading “A Visitor to the Quarry”
70 Years Ago Today: She Got a Diary
On June 12, 1942, Anne Frank received a diary for her thirteenth birthday. One month later, her family went into hiding.
She got a diary.
Red and white checked cover.
It was to hold a thirteen-year-old girl’s life,
Pet peeves, family outings, friends,
Movie stars, her annoying sister,
A flirtation, a hard teacher, the beauty
Of the canal water in the noonday sun. Continue reading “70 Years Ago Today: She Got a Diary”
Dispatching at the Rock Quarry
The trucks are either white or red.
Alliance, the white ones say.
Cowboy, the red ones.
An occasional blue one appears,
All driven by men except one,
whose driver calls in her mission
and adds, Have a nice day.
Pugged aggregate base. Rip rap.
Screenings. Bedding. Crusher run.
The language of rock.
Make a bridge, build a road,
Lay a foundation. It all starts
from a hole in the ground.
–Shaun Perkins
Out of Darkness
–after Ann McCoy’s Pyramid for Martin Hurson
Owl with wings spread
Enveloping the night as only
A nocturnal creature can
Slipping into the passage
She creates out of darkness
The moon not a place
Of silver but airy blight, Continue reading “Out of Darkness”
Birthday Skirt
She has been alone for twelve years,
Remembers only the birthdays of dead people.
She shared one with Birdie, her brother’s wife,
who spoke in questions and smiles,
and said of the only daring skirt she ever made,
“Interesting pattern choice for you, Montie,”
while blowing cigarette smoke past her ear. Continue reading “Birthday Skirt”
Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry 