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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

traveling man

by horace p sternwall

illustrations by penmarq studios





rome new york

poor boy, far from home
thumb out between troy and rome
pa went bust and sold the farm
the world is full of woe and harm

muncie indiana

women in muncie have sad eyes
wear blue dresses and make pies
they leave them on the windowsill
for passing boes to eat their fill

joliet illinois

the girls all laugh at the poor boys
standing on the corner in joliet illinois

paris tennessee

the sheriff in paris tennessee
doesn't care for you or me
he sits in front of the courthouse wall
and hardly ever moves at all

waycross georgia

folks drink doctor pepper and moxie
and go to movies at the roxie
everywhere there's lots of dust
they stomp and breathe it, because they must

laramie wyoming

tom thought adelaide was sweet
they went to the diner across the street
they had coffee and pie and such
she looked out the window and didn't say much

sheridan wyoming

there was this hippie got on the bus
he didn't look like one of us
had wraparound shades and a long red beard
he was a cannibal, we feared

elko nevada

hank lies in bed in the dark motel
outside the world is hot as hell
pearl stands in the doorway, if you please
desperately waiting for a breeze

death valley

the vulture in the endless sky
smoothly sailing, high and dry
looks down upon the rattlesnakes
and scorpions in the long dead lakes

end of the road

seeing the sun set in the west
that was the thing i liked the best
and when we reached the pacific coast
that was the thing i liked the most

the road goes on

in greyhound stations a strange light
falls across the benches at night



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