Bless the land of two billion four hundred million acres,
The drum dance for stamina, buffalo, and rain—
Vast rivers of languages, of Cimarron, Tennessee, and Snake.
Bless the tallest mountain, snow-capped in the northwest
Dawn, and bless the felled sequoia, may we grieve you still.
New England aster. Geyer’s onion. Staid, cool yarrow. Bergamot.
The boys in muddy Carhartts off the highway. Haggerty’s
Bar and Dinor (‘Serving the Gem City since 1931’).
Bless the cash only, the third-shift dollar fifty tacos.
Bless the former coal docks, rail cars stripped and melted down.
Land of private prisons: battery, kidnapping, rape.
Bless the living victims, their perpetrators wishing they were dead.
Scourge of the white gilled mushroom (Amanita phalloides),
Hollow-point, opioid, and shame. Bless the schizophrenic—her blurry eye.
Face of Sitting Bull. Crazy Horse. Howlin’ Wolf. Diz.
Smell of the fresh cut diamond—90 feet from third base to the plate.
How many wave their banners? The buses nearly empty.
A Roman candle lighting up the sky. Dreams of a young beautician,
Of prep cook, meter maid, pimp. Crown of a higher power,
The stockbrokers divvying their shares. Vast expanse of ignorance
And knowledge (two for the price of one). Jack or Southern Comfort.
Clarence Darrow slinking toward the stand. Our sweet home
Of slaughter and salvation. Land of milk and honey.
A wet rope coiled round the neck. Bless the damned. Bless the blessed.