Something about a Dirt Road

By Larry Rochelle

you’ll believe

in seatbelts riding down the slope

off Osawatomie hill.

the dust alone can choke

a coyote, and drivers in pick-me-ups

learn to harness up and let the ruts bounce

them around.

you won’t hit your

head too hard and the dust will settle,

leaving you a view of cornfields

overlapped by white-washed

fog, gently

lifting

now, the face

of spring morn waiting

to be kissed.

– Larry Rochelle is a Johnson County Community College English professor.