East of New Haven
you see so many
graveyards around
these little towns—
out in the open
spaces & places.
i guess big cities
have not enough space for the
living,
let alone the dead.
there is so much
water here
and back home in
chicago we would call
them rocks, lying all on the ground(s)
lots of rocks around/but
you would call them
stones here.
see how much smoother
the world is.
the farther east we
go
the more frequent
are the stops at rich small
quaint towns and the more frequent
are the admonitions to “watch one’s
ticket on the rack above the seat
or to be very sure to take it with
you if you leave your seat!”
apparently,
the very wealthy,
steal.
as i ride the train
watching the many white students
eating out of brown paper
sacks, saving their now
money so that they can
be the very wealthy later
on, also.
Carolyn M. Rodgers, "East of New Haven" from The Heart as Ever Green. Copyright © 1978 by Carolyn M. Rodgers. Used by permission of Doubleday, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
Source:
The Heart As Ever Green
(Doubleday, 1978)
