Nebraska

1981,

                  &  for three days in Nebraska

penny loafers are the talk, the thirties sensation

all over again in one-light towns.

          Three days in Nebraska,

&  a hundred calves come out bloody &   new

          as Wahoo &  Alma &  Dunning hum

&  glow, turned liked searchlights into

Colorado, where everyone’s already wearing

          their lucky shoes.

It takes just one look at a boy from Ansley—

there is love &  there is money

          &  there is everything in between,

             touched by both—

one look at the packs approaching the drag

in Imperial,

as first &  second boy say hey & hey to third

&  fourth—

          Three days in Nebraska,

          &  the bigger

the sentiment, the harder it falls, &    all over

the dreams of the pretty

          end somewhere in New York City,

but just this one time,

                                  just these three days

in Nebraska, the boys are clicking their boots

&  singing

          I wish I was here in Nebraska