Dear Reader,
In my new collection, Skipping Stones, I included a poem called Tulsa, written while staying in Oklahoma for a work trip.
I didn’t go to Tulsa looking for a poem. In fact, I almost didn’t bring my notebook. But poems are a lot like unexpected encounters with old friends, a welcome surprise you never see coming.
You can find other unexpected poems like Tulsa in my latest collection, Skipping Stones. If you haven’t already get yourself a copy and if you’re enjoying my work make sure to leave a review on Amazon. Those reviews really help new authors find their footing.
Enjoy!
TULSA
We drove through the backwoods of Tulsa
In a hatchback red with fading rust
Pass red-wood barns, water towers, and
Miles and miles of open field
Where herds of black cattle crowded the golden lawns
Like dust mites circling ’round a sunbeam—
A remnant of a bygone age where men
Knew the land and pasture and prairie
Were one and the same: wild and untamed, endless and
Free, all horizon line and zephyr sky.
There we were, cutting cross country,
Admiring the view like a postcard,
Rumbling down the flat black asphalt
Unaware of the irony,
Enjoying the seeming boundless stretch
While driving along a boundary.Recent Publications:
Reading Recommendations:
George Mackay Brown, An Orkney Tapestry: A beautiful and evocative guide through George Mackay Brown’s Orkney, reminding us in a transient age that place still matters.
Writing Update:
No updates as of yet, still editing the first draft of my novel. I hope to have edits done by Mid-Fall. I hope to get it in the hands of an agent or publisher by then. Wish me luck!