Covering Bridge

Ancient covered wooden bridge

spanning across running creek

flowing coolly over feet

Castle on the Horizon

 

Driving on a turnpike in east Kansas, coming up on a bridge, I stopped staring at the road for a sec, and looked up to the right to view the horizon

but only saw the crenelated walls of a huge, white castle!

Frantically thought I was sleep-driving until realizing that a long motionless train with all white cargo containers had stopped on the tracks heading somewhere on the other side of the bridge.

TR

Out of the Ordinary Barnacles

 

West of Wichita, large, brown, mud barnacles

form close together along the outer sides of bridges

with dark open mouths facing traffic

No ocean waves lap or plunge around the bridges

just the constant surge of wind, dust, exhaust, rain

Clustered birds’ nests, glued to the cement

sheltered from the elements

Land versions of the real creatures

attached to beach rocks, piers, and ship bottoms

TR