Ohio Out
is a mood piece,
let’s say. geo
metrically it’s
a sagging ark
ansas. but,
hey, i’ve bad
mouthed geo
metry for dec
ades. i got a
post-graduate
degree in the
upper left cor
ner. the parch
ment was like
the frozen cov
er of earth the
frosty wind sw
ept over six
months out of
each year in
that desolation
—and there
were five.
don’t ask me
how i made it
out alive as i
barely remem
ber. but boy,
i packed that
car without a
heater full of
everything i
decided to
keep – a
bunch of
no good
stuff i’d
finally lose
the rest of
two coasts
and down
the road a
few years
later. my
face got
brighter, i’d
dare say, the
further away i
got from that
unbeveled and
bedeviled tun
dra. behind
a leathern
wheel i
skated out
to colder
climes i did.
with a hot
heart and
a harder
happiness
than i’d ev
er seen in
that most
godforsa
ken state.
