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poems for Poetry Place |
Sign outside of Wagontire Oregon 1973 In 1973 my Father and I took An epic road trip From Berkeley to Yakima We decided to go through Eastern Oregon Just for the hell of it And for the duration We had a good time My father and I We usually did not get along Just very different Personalities Driving along Highway 395 The loneliness highway In America That goes through America’s outback In Nevada, and Eastern Oregon The least densely populated Region of the United States One noticed the signs About one hundred miles out Wagontire 100 miles Last services for the next 200 miles Counting down until You got into town And the famous Burma shave signs My favorite “Remember driving fast Gets you to the next life Fast Be careful Burma Shave” Nothing much there A run-down dinner General store Gas station And post office And a small church A few houses Then you noticed the welcome sign “Welcome to Wagontire Population 10,000 cattle 10,000 chickens 5,000 pigs 5,000 pigs Numerous antelope Numerous deer Numerous elk Some wolves Lots of coyotes Lots of rabbits 10 dogs Two and one half-humans.” We asked the dinner owner Also the sheriff, fire chief And rancher and Postmaster, “Say who is the half-human?” “My idiot son” In 2016 My wife and I drove across the country Twice to celebrate my retirement From the Foreign Service 10,000 miles 35 states Three months On the road We drove through Wagontire The sign was gone Including the Burma shave signs Nothing left but The long-abandoned dinner Now just another ghost town Among so many In the Eastern Oregon desert America’s outback America’s empty quarter. The idiot son Never took Over the business. |
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