Burton
From Coffee and Astronomy and other Poems. Morpo Press, 2001.
Along Highway 12, you see the sign:
“Burton” with a nine under it,
then a slick Lutheran church on the left;
Assembly of God to your right;
you got one house, roof splintered in,
paint about gone off it; maybe
that was a trailer home past them pines;
and that’s about it. That’s the town. More God
than people, I suppose. A car
passes, driver raises a finger,
different finger than Omaha drivers, as
it ain’t obscenity, you got time to appreciate it
as you ain’t gonna see another car
for miles.
Poem copyright Matt Mason, used here with permission.