My Cart 
Login 

Previous

Highway to the Coast
by
Mark Thalman


Next
 

Thick and green, the hills rise
on each other's shoulders.

High ridges disappear in fog
make me wish I was born of water.

At the divide, I taste the cool ocean air,
the way a deer finds a salt lick,

and roller coaster down a narrow road
that does not believe in a straight line.

Blackberry vines
crawl through barbed wire fences.

Small towns occur like a whim.
As if in a coma, they merely survive.

I tune in the only station
and listen to country western.

Static gradually drowns the singer out.
Rounding a corner, he pops to the surface

for another breath,
simply to sink back still singing.

Fir shadows lace the road.
Bracken cascades embankments.

At the next curve, a farmhouse is half finished--
boards weathered raw. Chickens roost in a gutted Chevy.

Scattered among these hills, families
rely on small private lumber mills,

the disability or unemployment check,
the killing of an out of season elk.


This poem first appeared in Caffeine Destiny and later appeared in 
Deer Drink the Moon: Poems of Oregon (Ooligan Press, Portland State University).
Used here with the author's permission.

 


 


Mark Thalman, editor of poetry.us.com and author of Catching the Limit (Fairweather Books), has been widely published for four decades. He received his MFA from the University of Oregon, and is retired after teaching English in public schools for 32 years. Mark, also an artist who enjoys painting wildlife scenes with acrylics, lives in Forest Grove, OregonLearn more about him at www.markthalman.com.

 


Post New Comment:
plgoodman:
Wonderful. Simple and beautiful, brimming with vivid imagery. Thanks!
Posted 05/24/2015 06:05 PM
Pat Brisson:
Such striking images! I love "the hills/rise on each other's shoulders" and "a narrow road /that does not believe in a straight line" and "small towns occur like a whim." Thanks for a lovely poem, Mark.
Posted 05/24/2015 06:57 AM
Supa:
I can relate to this one, having grown up in a small town. It can be aa wonderful life. He's very descriptive. Just love it.
Posted 05/24/2015 06:17 AM


Contents of this web site and all original text and images therein are copyright © by Your Daily Poem. All rights reserved.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Purchasing books through any poet's Amazon links helps to support Your Daily Poem.
The material on this site may not be copied, reproduced, downloaded, distributed, transmitted, stored, altered, adapted,
or otherwise used in any way without the express written permission of the owner.