I drove by and didn’t notice the
of the mill. The sun was sparkling

across the car’s windshield. Dame’s
stood brightly there and here

more deeply by summery thunder-
And, really, the blue sky had

I did notice the noose-treed house,
camoed nuke stuck tail-up from the

if I’m honest, the noose is only a
Seared on my mind like the white

from the car’s cigarette lighter that I
as a child. I didn’t know how old

as ancient as you would expect
America, not for somewhere else.

how bright the sky was? And
the lick of flames on the last-frost

your golden-haired son was smiling and
that once other sons feared rope-