ETHAN MERSHON
The Way It Really Was In Kansas, When We'd Sit On The Hood And Not Talk
you can teach yourself East
has no business here,
by lying on your back and turning
the compass to point to the way horses are
and the way you tend to peel when the leaves turn to type
satin is yesterday, and East
isn’t.
the way you learn to turn any compass
is by rolling your hay bales into the tattoo parlor
where they make hiding places and nicknames
and asking
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
but, of course, they’ll answer
“Someone else teaches rivers
and they went fishing.”
it’s then that you really get it.
you’re a fistful of feathers.
yesterday is a satin boxing glove.
it was never about the East.
it was about the fear of blowing away, and the strength
of the hay bale.
217 The Paris-American
you can teach yourself East
has no business here,
by lying on your back and turning
the compass to point to the way horses are
and the way you tend to peel when the leaves turn to type
satin is yesterday, and East
isn’t.
the way you learn to turn any compass
is by rolling your hay bales into the tattoo parlor
where they make hiding places and nicknames
and asking
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
but, of course, they’ll answer
“Someone else teaches rivers
and they went fishing.”
it’s then that you really get it.
you’re a fistful of feathers.
yesterday is a satin boxing glove.
it was never about the East.
it was about the fear of blowing away, and the strength
of the hay bale.
217 The Paris-American
