Writing From Space

The Ecumenical Nature of Slush

1/14/2017

Suppose the Pope were in an Oldsmobile
on Interstate 80 driving over the Sierras
as snow becomes slush and the whoosh
of eighteen wheelers turns windshield wipers
to frantic hands helping His Eminence see the road.

The Pope, now in the middle lane,
expels a mix of dirt and snow
on those behind and beside him,
and he sighs at the ways we sully each other
to get to the places we need to go.

Comments

Below Zero

1/9/2017

Comments

I doubt you would like this place.
Blue light on crusted snow,
sage drained of chlorophyll,
grey sky mirrored in the pond.

You say, "The dead of winter."
I hear revving in the distance
as a rancher warms his truck
to feed the bawling cattle.

This below zero day
freezes complicated thought.
The death of desire makes me tired.
I want to sleep until spring.

Comments

click to website

BLOG ARCHIVES '09/'14

Author

Nancy Harris McLelland taught creative writing, composition, and literature for over twenty years and Conducted writing workshops for the Western Folklife Center, Great Basin College , and the Great Basin Writing Project . An Elko County native with a background in ranching. McLelland has presented her "Poems from Tuscarora" Both at daytime and evening events at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko. Her essay, "Border Lands: Cowboy Poetry and the Literary Canon" is in the anthology Cowboy Poetry Matters .

The Ecumenical Nature of Slush

Below Zero

Author

Archives

Categories