G. Louis Heath Verse-Virtual 2016 September

September 2016

I am a native Californian, a Berkeley Ph.D., who is Professor Emeritus, Ashford University. That basically means that my campus closed and I had to retire at age 71 in May, 2016, after 47 years in higher education. Please excuse the clinging initial G. (for Gary) Louis Heath but I thought it was cool in 1969 when I first published! My books include Mutiny Does Not Happen Lightly, Long Dark River Casino, and Vandals in The Bomb Factory. I love to read my poems at the Midwest Writing Center in Davenport, Iowa and at other open mic events. I serve on the Human Rights Commission of my city, Clinton, Iowa. I love to hike along the Mississippi River where I can sit down, weather permitting, and work on a poem that I have stuffed in my back pocket.

Traffic

In the shadow of hulking semis, I drive.
They roar by, a cascade of near-death.

500 miles of rolling prairie numb me
to the gassy-breathed growl of these

box monsters with flashy chrome front
teeth that come up on me to gloat at my

fright. They play with me, their car toy,
then whoosh past, a paroxysm of Armageddon

to my ears. My heart wants to hide, pounding
my rib cage for an exit. I pull over for fuel.

The elderly lady who takes my money is so
friendly, I want to call her Savior, or at least

Aunt. I settle for buying two bottles of Amana
Maple Syrup, my imagined elixir of life.

Editor's Note: If this poem(s) moves you please consider writing to the author (email address above) to tell him or her. You might say what it is about the poem that moves you. Writing to the author is the beginning of community at Verse Virtual. It is very important. -FF