Poem after the Gully Washer

Jaunting once again
To unfamiliar territory-
No idea where I will end up;
But venom to purge
Once I land at the unknown destination
Alone.

Passing water-filled Badland ditches
Across rumpled bridges
Scattered with
A Quick flood’s aftermath;
Tumbleweeds joined at the hip
After a forceful gully washer.

Whereas writers meet
At Prairie Winds:
To assemble at dawn,
To seek answers,
To question life; perchance
To smile at death.

Forgetting the reasons,
Relinquishing pasts-
Upchucking verbals,
Starting anew.

Posse of possibilities.
Comrades around campfires.
Histories still above the ground.

We are warriors of words;
Soul mates to blend
A lifetime into a daytime
And continue,
Must continue
To discover a passage
Worth remembering.

Jane Overmoe