THE DISTANCE AHEAD

they came from concrete circles
subdivided on the plains
they came from grids and girders
commuters rushing through the rain
they grew up on the honeyed streets
BMX skidding in the dirt
smoking under bleachers
left to stumble and to flirt

they found solace in the stereo
the reliquary of sound
liner notes like scripture
hymns from the underground
anarchic and insatiable
as time echoed down the lane
the new life open and waiting
in what territory remained
me I was one of those lost in in-between space
straddling the centuries, trying to keep pace
-
illusions painfully shattered
they were still children full grown
fledgling birds learning to fly
lighting out on their own
searching ever for balance
anxious and so unsatisfied
sleeping in the red rock canyons
on transcontinental drives
-
the desecration of the mountain west
offended their very souls
the clearcut wasteland stretching ever on
the animal damage control
somewhere in the Olympic range
a campfire by a roaring stream
a woman sat down to tell them stories
of all the things she’d seen
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how there were others out there
in valley and watershed
the savage and the tender
looking into the distance ahead
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northwest harbor by desolate docks
tattoo parlors and old haunts
I met them all with dawn coming on
we covered the waterfront
the threadbare and the chosen
green fire in the eye
with aching hearts heavy as stone
we ranged under the starlit sky
-
shouting at the faceless walls
negotiating terms
injunctions filed, emotions riled
their passions brightly burned
buried up to the neck in roads
living hundreds of feet in the air
they drove at night in old pickup trucks
anything to interfere
-
they healed their wounded bodies
found what refuges they could
in the mossy dreams of ancient trees
and thousand year old woods
-
they grew accustomed to the conflict
the cycles of rage and loss
they wavered and tore at each other
paid a terrible cost
some protections were offered
due to their demands
and they are legends every one
these protectors of the land
-
one November it came to a head
tear gas and percussion grenades
a Troy of their very own
they shook the citadel gates
there were more of them than they ever knew
with courage to match desire
she shaved her head and serenely smiled
walked out into the crossfire
-
they suffered and they sacrificed
eyes stinging when the law came down
their hearts were ever golden
deep green with the foggy crown
-
now it’s grainy film lost in terabytes
archipelagos of floating junk
robber barons who want to live on mars
progress gone giddy & punch drunk
somewhere out where borders blur
colors bleed on sand and stone
I want to tell these ones I love them all
as I drive the desert alone
-
it all happened in slow motion
when we still were memorizing roads
pulled over at a service station
losing quarters in a broken pay phone
crumpled maps in the glove box
a motel pool full of tumbleweeds
I’m searching for Hayduke and Bonnie
I’m searching for Seldom Seen
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in the Chiricahua Range
the Jaguars return again
they stare out across the desert
into the distance ahead
the distance ahead