Notes from and Interview (for Lasso the Wind)

Notes from an interview: “These rural people are
pretty simple and unsophisticated,” the local
rouser of rabble said, leading a mob of eighty
so-called friends and neighbors to hang in effigy
two folks on the other side of an idea. Not that
this is new. “Joseph didn’t sell” notes Tim Eagan,
lucky enough to be through here but not on
the business end of an imaginary lynch mob.
Meanwhile, life goes on. “Vote for me!” pleads
this one and that. "I'm of this place - and here
just for you is a bumper sticker equal in
intellectual weight to my estimate
of your intelligence.” And with that, we'll all
operate according to our morals (all secretly
thinking prophylactically - I don’t want my laws
enforced with someone else's morals - as
you never know where they’ve been.) Oh, it’s
beautiful here in Wallowa County - poor stolen,
beat-up landscape. And all of us are complacent
beneficiaries  - whatever side we're on, no matter
how righteous or not, we occupy the Wallowa Country.

News from a small town 42, Oct 2011

tis the season, but not the one you think

I’ll bet you three bucks 

you’ll find them hiding out
in someone’s back yard, 

browsing the lilacs in town, 
now its hunting season.

No need to confirm this
prediction – you know
two days before the orange
vests and whiskey bottles
hit the ground for good

all the whitetails, all the
mule deer have hit the
road for lower ground
where they’re strictly
off limits. Deer too, read all

the ODFW reports, and snicker
as they head straight to town,
where all the dogs know that
barking only brings on antlers
and hooves for the trouble.

News from a small town 41, Oct 2011

the illusion next door

five old men sit and solve

the problems of the world

or at least next door over

fair coffee and good muffins

five young women drive by

laughing and smoking and

not yet aware of fear or where

the next meal might not come

five middle-aged women

conspire over red wine and

good chocolate - it is not

at core, all about the men

five teen boys flex their fists

and contemplate pounding

fear of god and law and

where to get the next beer

it's a town like any other
some good, some wretched
some joy, some pain - but

all so very close to home

 News from a small town 40, Oct 2011

winter in a tea cup

that's not rain dancing
in the sky

only October snow 

 News from a small town 39, Oct 2011

again

we thought we might miss it
this is the week the larch pops
yellow on the hillsides, just
before frost bites the valley
just before the second snow
and just after that fake winter
that somehow lasted a week,
that second day of hunting season

 News from a small town 38, Oct 2011

Explanations and resolutions

Aug. 15

Unsecure business reported.

Aren’t they all?

Possible wolf kill.
Possible hooraw to come.

Aug. 16
Horse running loose on Highway 82 in rural town mid valley.
Ticketed for speeding.

Alarm reported at the Lake.
Oh gasp!

Aug. 17
Alarm at business reported.
There, there, dear. Nothing to fear.

Aug. 18

Suspicious circumstances in rural town up valley.
Aren’t they always?

Tractor fire reported from rural town up valley.

You’ve got to be kidding.

Revolver reported lost.

At least it works.

Dark-colored water reported from resident.
Too much vitamin B, perhaps.

Aug. 19
Dog complaint in town.

Cat therapist summoned.
 

Aug. 20

Road hazard up valley.

Three cars that morning.

Aug. 21

Horse on Imnaha Highway in city limits, owner located.
Horsing around in progress.

Motorcycle accident on the 39 Road.

Oh ouch.

Civil dispute up valley, noise complaint down.
Civil but loud.

 News from a small town 37, Oct 2011

applesauce season

little fresh apples
bubbling on
the electric hob,
a few leaves in
the sink; modern
homesteading
in Wallowa country

News from a small town 36, Oct 2011

     

personals (who would dare?)

rattling open the page

of my local paper, I see

so many options for life:

love-adoption-lots-of-love

allied health care, all on line

$135 divorce, 1-5 weeks -

and multiple anonymous meetings

the answer is in there somewhere

I dare you to find it

 news from a small town 35, September 2011