The Best of Mad Swirl : 09.30.23
Mad Swirl Open Mic : 10.04.23
Bloodstones: A New Mad Swirl Press Publication
John Deere purgatory
always looking for something
always running toward something you couldn’t define
and then you ran into the winter wheat harvest
three months and a thousand miles of sweat and grease
three states and a shimmering ocean of amber
a John Deere purgatory for misfits and mal-adaptive souls
an International Harvester bardo for run-aways and rejects
endless big talk about pussy and rodeo buckles
suffocating b.o. and pitiful bad jokes
never enough hot sauce for the shitty grub
eighteen-hour days under a heartless heathen sun
blown head gaskets and bent slats and bad bone weariness
blisters and muscle cramps and a constant itch from the chaff
and never enough time or quiet to collect your thoughts
but then by the time you hit the Nebraska state line
any thought you ever held has disappeared in the thick dust
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