Waupaca

Sneeze, sit on the porch,
admire night’s black leotards
on a line. Irene’s
jukebox with “Sugar Shack,”
oh, Waupaca,

we could be happy together
but you refuse me,
the bachelor uncle
you never invite to reunions.

White steeple, white snow
on cornfields. Barn owls

tally up cow misdemeanors.
Cough and sniff

about how life isn’t fair anymore,
how strangers should keep to cities

and raise poverty.

originally appeared in Grain (1992)