THE HEART OF IT ALL

By Daniel Thompson

Ohio

I’m following you

Down the road

I’m tailgating you

I’m so close I can read

Your license plate

It says you’re the heart of it all

But it seems your heart has turned

Arctic cold

With six months darkness

Six months of light

Who can make it through?

When a half-year of days

Is one long, cold, black night

Who can survive to praise the light?

All is grey now; the sky

Is filled with waves of gulls

The airwaves with violins

Into the Flats we go

Down to the river

O throw your heart

Into its fire, Ohio

Let it melt

I’ll be your tug

And pull you

To the sea . . .

Chris KnestrickApril 5, 2013