Letter to Edward Abbey
My name is Jamie Lee Hamann and I started sharing poetry articles back in 2013. Every year I share a poem a day in April.
Letter to Edward Abbey
When Doc tried sawing down each billboard sign
with chainsaw he acquired from his wife
or when his crew crossed the construction line
to stop the work and cause company strife
he always hit the road before the fine.
The mountain view was better for his life
a thirst for nature that he could not quench
a gang who gathered for the monkey wrench.
Remember story of your fiance
you drove new car onto lonely dirt road
and left your girl with nothing left to say
about the fact you dropped an extra load
with each broken part of new car that day
she left as quickly as this episode
him with his broken down automobile
dirt road in Badlands his Achilles Heel.
Drove family passed Arches National Park
where you wrote "Desert Solitaire' under
the influence of desert dryland mark
where horned lizards skittered to wonder
the wingspan of a honk with meadowlark
with rain upon the Arch and spring thunder
to fall in love with this foreign landscape
that sometimes feel like moons where we escape.
To see many desert throughout a life
as comfortable as you in dry climate
to find in Sagebrush a mystical wife
desert flowers typically respirate
on blade of Crabgrass reflection of knife
a drop of moisture seen where leaves binate.
I understand your militant desires
to save this land from any man made fires.
© 2022 Jamie Lee Hamann
