inlet-outlet

 

 

 

 

we've walked

this ohio river line
a thousand times
back then
the summer heat
pulled us forward
til we dove off
the concrete shoulders
at woods run
people said there were cars
dumped in the river
so you had to be careful diving

every so often
you'd hear shouts & whistles
from the penitentiary
someone said there was
an underground escape tunnel

there was always

wonder bread that could be rolled
into dough balls
for catching carp & catfish

but the window sills gathered coal dust

enough to make their own storm
and there was nothing joe magarac nostalgic
about the bottoms in mckees rocks
or the chemical fires downriver
on neville island

--- e b bortz