A cross-country trip

A poem and the newsy part of a newsletter

The last week has been a tornado of work and deadlines so I haven’t even had a chance to read the Substacks I subscribe to. When I had few moments yesterday, I opened Substack to discover that the amazing poet

Maya C. Popa

has included my poem “Cross Country”¹ in her weekly “Poems for Your Weekend: Travel Edition.” I am so honored to have my poem selected and to be included among such a wonderful group of poets. I’m posting the poem here for my subscribers, but I encourage you to check out the full post.

Cross Country

We drove an oval.
Our goal, a horizon
we would never reach. 
Six weeks in a once—
deep blue Datsun. 
Gas, food, where to
sleep—is the ground flat,
are our heads
below our feet? 
We lived inside 
an immensity 
where all that mattered 
were needs—shade 
and water in the bleeding sand;
      sex— 
our bed, twigs, rocks,
New York’s fallen leaves.

Our minds stretched, 
drew back; the car crossed 
nine thousand cement miles. 
And the present 
became a past 
we were always leaving 
became a future
that passed too quickly to know.
I measure my confidence by 
how far I can see, he said.
I wanted to cocoon myself in 
verdant fecundity. We
became the place where 

Vermilion Cliffs merged
with forest 
rising to a canyon,
that dropped us into the earth.
      We were 
geography’s forgotten lessons.

---

Cathryn Shea, Jerry from Books Inc., and LeeAnn

Now for the highlight of my week: I had my first local East Bay reading this past Thursday night at Books Inc. in Alameda. It was joyous, not only to read but also to have so many friends in the audience for the first time. It really was a dream come true. I haven’t smiled that much in ages!

I have two more readings in June, one at Book Passage in Corte Madera on June 14 at 2 p.m. and one in Berkeley at Mrs. Dalloway’s on June 18. I’ll be reading with my friend and fellow poet Cathryn Shea. If you are in the Bay Area come celebrate poetry and the publication of my book Gathering the Pieces of Days and Cathy’s book Ghost Matinee.

And today I’ll be participating in the Bookworm Block Party at the Bay Area Book Festival in downtown Berkeley. I’ll be with several other

Unsolicited Press

authors at Table 236 so stop by and say hi and buy a book if you are at the festival.

1. “Cross Country” was original published in Pinyon in 2006.