The houses cannot touch.

Yards stretch to reach property lines.

This is the land of a people who had a dream

of coasts and cities,

and stopped when they realized they’d already found better

The sweet blue west calls me.

A vision of endless land is seared into my eyes.

Why take this seasick sailor

and set her in the lovelorn Prairie

where emptiness is everything

and loneliness is nothing,

only to drop her from a thunderous cloud

in a crowded coastal city

to drown?