VIEW FROM THE TRAIN
Corduroy fields streak by the window,
whisker-gray shrub stalks brush the tracks,
stacks of bee boxes wait
at the feet of blossoming almond trees.
Beyond the road racing beside us
where a car speeds to catch our shadow,
tides of yellow grasses undulate,
wetlands drown the sky.
Meadows fade where smokestacks
spew chemical plumes,
and purple-eyed orange faces
howl from a graffitied wall.
We hiss to a stop, doors open
like faucets, passengers
pour onto the platform.
We have arrived.
2nd Prize, Sierra College Poetry Slam, 2020